
KIT CARSON. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON: 



THE GREAT WESTERN HUNTER AND GUIDE. 



COKPRISIKO 



WILD AND ROMANTIC EXPLOITS AS A HUNTER AND TRAPPER IW 

ROCKY MOUNTAINS; THRILLING ADVENTURES AND HaIK^ 

BREADTH ESCAPES AMONO THE INDIANS AITD 

MEXICANS; HIS DARINO AND INVALUABLE 

SERVICES AS A GUIDE TO SCOUTING 

AND OTHER PARTIES, 

ETC., ETC. 



WITH AN ACCOUNT OF VARIOUS GOVET^NMENT EITEDITDNS 
TO THE FAR WEST. 



BY CHARLES BURDETT. 



ILLUSTRATin. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
JOHN E. POTTER AND COMPANY, 

617 Sansom Street. 



C34-2 



Entered according to Act of CJongress, in the year 1869, by 

JOHN E. POTTER AND COMPANY, 

In tha Clerk's OflBce of the District Court for the Eastern District of 

Pennsylyania. 



23*6 fe^i 



PREFACE 



In offering to the public a revised and complete 
history of the most remarkable of American fron- 
tiersmen, we perform a pleasing task. All the at- 
tainable circumstances connected with his life, ad- 
ventures and death are fully set forth, and we offer 
this in confidence as a reliable authority for the 
reader. 

No one should hesitate to familiarize himself with 
the exploits of the subject of this volume. They 
evince a magnanimity and an uprightness of char- 
acter that is rarely found in one leading so daring 
and intensely wild a life, and cannot but contribute 
their share of lustre to the interesting records of the 
Far West. "We regret that his modesty, equally 
proverbial with his daring, prompted him to with- 
hold many of the exciting incidents of his career 
from the public. 

We have compiled a portion of this work from 
such official reports of his great skill, indomitable 
energy, and unfaltering courage as have been com- 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

municated by his friend and commander, Col. Fre- 
mont, who has invariably awarded to him all the 
best attributes of manhood, when opportunity af- 
forded. Added to these, our hero had been prevailed 
upon by a few of his friends to communicate some 
of the records of the most important passages in 
his extraordinary and eventful life, which are em- 
bodied in this volume. 

His has indeed been a life of peculiarly exciting 
personal hazards, bold adventures, daring coolness, 
and moral and physical courage, such as has seldom 
transpired in the world, and we have been greatly 
impressed, in its preparation, with the necessity for a 
thorouo:h work of this kind. All are aware that the 
young, and even matured, often seek for books of 
wild adventure, and if those of an unhurtful and 
truthful character are not found, thoy are apt to be- 
take themselves to trashy and damaging literature. 
In this view, this work has a purpose which, we 
trust, will commend it to every family ^hr»7V^)*«at 
the land. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Hero of the narrative — from what race descended — ^his 
fame — theater of his exploits — nativity — his father emi- 
grates to Missouri — father's occupation — Kit's appren- 
ticeship—dissatisfaction with his trade — joins an expedi- 
tion to Santa Fe — surgical operation — Santa Fe, its 
situation, business, style of buildings, water, appearance, 
altitude, scenery, population — spends the winter at Taos 
— learns the Spanish language — joins a party bound to 
Missouri — returns to Santa Fe — becomes a teamster — 
El Paso, its grape culture, style of living of its people, 
name — youth of traveler — new occupation for the winter 
— ^becomes interpreter for a trader 13 

CHAPTER II. 

Cliihuahua, cathedral, statues, public buildings, convent, 
mint, trade, age, population — Carson longs for the prairie 
— changes employment — returns to Taos — -joins a party 
of hunters and trappers to punish the Indians — resultof 
the affray — Indian style of fighting — method of trapping 
for beaver — beaver signs — setting the traps — bait — 

fastening the traps — caution in setting the traps 21 

(5) 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER III. 

PAf» 

Carson s qualifications for a trapper — starts for California — 
desert in the route — Mohave Indians,^ non-intercourse 
with whites, appearance, dress, ornaments, painting their 
bodies, money — Mission San Gabriel, cattle, horses, 
sheep, mules, vineyards, income — other Missions in Cal- 
ifornia, when founded, laborers — Missions of Upper 
California — Missionary subscriptions — management of 
the fund — Commandante-general — the Monks — golden 
age of the Missions 29 

CHAPTER IV. 

New Mexico and Arizona — their desert prairies — Carson 
in California — traps on the San Joaquin — the valley of 
the Sacramento 40 

CHAPTER V. 

The Digger Indians, a description of them, and their mod© 
of living — Carson's visit to a ranche in search of a cow^ 
his journey to the camp with his prize 45 

CHAPTER VI. 

Carson at the Mission San Gabriel — ^recovers sixty stolon 
horses after a fight with the Indians — "Los Angelos" — 
climate of California 54 

CHAPTER VII. 

Visit to a ranche — likes California, but likes bufi"alo better 
— leaves Los Angelos, and traps on the Colorado — in a 
tight place, but gets out of it 06 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Trapping with Young upon the Colorado — captures cattle 
and horses from the Indians — goes to Santa Fe, disposes 
of furs, and sows his wild oats — coureurs des hois, travels 



CONTENTS. 



»!•■ 



dress, habits — joins Mr. Fitzpatrick trapping among the 
Nez Perces — winters in the New Park — punishes the 
Crow Indians for horse-stealing — pursues and punishea 
rubbers of a cache — flies from a party of sixty Indians... 76 

CHAPTER IX. 

Hunts with two companions — saving his money — trading 
with Captain Lee — pursues an Indian horse-thief and 
recovers the horses without assistance — traps on the 
Laramie — fight with two grizzlies — description of the 
grizzly bear, his food — traps among the Black feet — un- 
successful attempt to cliastise Blackfeet horse-thieves — 
Carson is wounded — Bridger's pursuit without finding 
them 83 

CHAPTER X. 

Oarson, recovered, attends summer rendezvous on Green 
River— description of the rendezvous — camp, traders, 
charges — British Fur Company — the Indians bringing 
in furs — appearance of Montreal at a fair for the Indians 
— trappers and traders from the States — purchases of the 
trappers, necessaries, luxuries, Indian wife 93 

CHAPTER XI. 

Green River rendezvous again — the backwoodsman — Car- 
son the peace-maker — Sherman the bully, his punish- 
ment — cause of the duel — trapping and parley with the 
Blackfeet — on Humboldt River — explores the desert — 
discovers the river afterwards named for him 101 

CHAPTER XII. 

Dreary prospect on the Humboldt — Humboldt Lake — sinks 
of other rivers^-overflow of Humboldt Lake and River 
— station at the sink, the traders — Humboldt Indians — 
Fourth of July on the Humboldt^ — Humboldt sinking — 
land available for agriculture on this river 1(HI 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

PAOB 

Carson on the Humboldt — sufferings of the return party — 
P^'ramid Circle — a horse purchased for food — buffalo 
hunt, meat jerked — horses stolen by the Indians — -ex- 
tent of buffalo ranges — buffalo upon the Platte in 1857, 
numbers, trails crossing the river, animals killed 116 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Carson traps with a party of a hundred in the Blackfeet 
country — winter camp among the Crows — Indian lodges 
— ^winter life of the trappers — fight with the Blackfeet — 
Carson saves the life of a friend, dislodges the Indians 
from a rocky fastness, and compels their flight — no more 
molestation — the rendezvous — trade with the Navajos 
Indians — fort at Brown's Hole — goes again against the 
Blackfeet, a thousand warriors assemble, retire without 
an engagement — traps on the Salmon River — among the 
Blackfeet, another fight, leaves their country — Chinook 
and Flathead Indians — process of flattening the head.. 126 

CHAPTER XV. 

Carson continues trapping — the trade becomes unprofitable 
— war of extermination upon the beaver, silk for hats 
prevents — Carson's experience enables him to aid one 
who should explore in behalf of science — knowledge of 
the countr}' — comes to Bent's Fort, forsaking trapping 
— becomes hunter for the fort — his employers — his 
business — reputation as a hunter — fulfills the early hopes 
of him — knowledge of the country — regard shown him, 
especially by the Indians — diplomatist between the Sioux 
and the Camanches — marriage — death of his wife — 
takes his child to St. Louis for education — changes at 
his old home — reception at St. Louis — meets Col. Fre- 
mont — engages to guide Fremont's exploring party to 
the South Pi\ss in tb^ Rocky Mountains 139 



CONTENTS. 9 

'CHAPTER XVI. 

MAI 

Party of explorers starting — style of encamping — defense 
— morning in camp — ford of the Kansas — India-rubber 
boat — ^accident from overloading the boat — Carson ill- 
lies in camp on the prairie 152 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Road over rolling prairie — Pawnee country — false alarm 
of the presence of Indians — Carson rides to discover 
the cause — coast of the Platte River — party of trappers 
from Fort Laramie — one of this party joins Fremont's 
company — ^buffalo — appearance of the herds — feasting 
in the camp — Carson's mishap in the hunt — Carson, 
Maxwell, and Fremont join in the chase 157 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Fremont divides his party — attempt to lasso a wild horse- 
Maxwell prevents an Indian attack — Indians on a buf- 
falo hunt — return laden with meat — Cheyenne village — 
tripod support for their weapons — Fremont entertained 
by the chief — tribute to the Great Spirit on taking the 
pipe — Jim Beckwith — other settlers on the mountain 
streams — St. Vrain's Fort-^Fort Laramie — Carson's 
camp — excitement in the company — hostile intentions 
of the Indians — preparations for continuing the explo- 
rations — one of the command dismissed 167 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The growth of Artemisia — fate of the Indian party so 
much dreaded — cache of wagons and other effects-— 
value of Carson's aid to Fremont — propriety of calling 
this an exploring party — ascent to the South Pass — • 
exploration up a tributary of Green River — lake at its 
source — continue to explore in tne mountains — Fremont 
climbs the highest summit — why Carson was not with 
him ITS 



10 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XX. 

Party returns to Fort Laramie — Carson remains — ^marriage 
—joins Fremont — a second exploring expedition — 
object of tlie expedition — Great Salt Lake — Fremont's 
description — current impressions in regard to the lake 
— Beer Springs — Hot Springs — Standing Rock 188 

CHAPTER XXI. 

A part of Fremont's men return East — leave Fort Hall, 
en route for the valley of the Columbia — difficulty of 
finding camping places — Carson kills buffalo — melan- 
choly looking country — crossing Snake River — fish- 
eating Indians — refitting equipage at the Dalles — pro- 
posed return route — spirits of the party — Tlamath 
Lake — sufferings of the party 208 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Fremont's story of the difficulties and exposures of his 
party — hot springs — explorations for grass — mountain 
lake — central ridge of the Sierra Nevada — Indians — 
talks by signs — Indian guide — encouragement afforded 
by Carson's descriptions of California — provisions low — 
snow deep — animals weak — Indian harangue — guide 
deserts — Carson recognizes Sacramento valley and the 
coast range — taking the horses through the snow — sleds 
for the baggage — pine nuts the food of the Indians — 
glorious sunrise 217 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Thunder storm — view of the Sacramento, and Bay of San 
Francisco — mauls to path the snow — Carson saves Fre- 
mont from drowning — rauid river, snow, grass, pines, 
live oak, mistletoe — division of the party — horses lost — 
members of the party wander, return — horses killed for 
food — country improving in beauty — arrival at Sutter's 
Fort — description of & cache 237 



CONTENTS. 11 

CHAPTER XXIV^ 

Caroon at lioma in Taos — decides to commence farming- 
preparations — Fremont requests his service for a third 
expedition — meeting at Bent's Fort — head-waters — 
Great Salt Lake — expedition divides — Horse-Thief In- 
dians — the skirmish 250 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Arrival at Sutter's Fort — command of G-en. Castro to leave 
the country — his march against Fremont — Fremont de- 
parts for Oregon — Indians instigated by the Mexicans, 
Fremont's march against them — he returns to California 
— another Indian fight 264 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Loss to Fremont's party — Carson's attack upon Indian 
village — start for the Sacramento — Fremont's campaign 
against the Mexicans — captures Sonoma — calls Ameri- 
can settlers into his service — Gen. Castro leaves San 
Francisco — Fremont garrisons Sutter's Fort — marches 
to Monterey — Commodore Sloat in possession — hoists 
the flag of the United States 273 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

i remont marches on, and occupies Los Angeles — appointed 
Governor of California — Carson starts for Washington 
as bearer of dispatches — unexpected meeting with Apache 
Indians — meets the expedition of Gen. Kearney — ^returns 
to California as guide 280 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

March to California — Mexicans intercept Kearney's troops 
— American attack on the Mexican force— disastrous 
result — Carson and Lieut. Beale reach San Diego — re- 
inforcements sent by Com. Stockton — capture of Los 
Angelos — Mexicans surrender to Fremont — want of 
harmony in the American camps 1^85 



12 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

fAmn 

Graphic Jescription of tlie entrance into Monterey, of Fre- 
mont, Carson, and party — indiscretions of American 
officers — Kearney's dispatch to the War Department — 
Fremont's extraordinary ride 302 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Fremont visits his Mariposa purchase — grand hunt and 
ball — the fandango — Carson and Beale ordered to Wash- 
ington — kind reception — appointed to a lieutenancy — 
encounter with Camanches — arrival at Los Angelos — 
sent to the Tejon Pass — again to Washington — arrival 
at home — the warlike Apaches — Carson entertains Fre- 
mont and suffering explorers 315 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Dreadful sufferings endured by Fremont and party — error 
in engaging a guide — Fremont's letter to his wife — hor- 
rible details 330 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

Mr. Carvalho's narrative — cravings of hunger — disgusting 
food considered a delicacy — Death of Mr. Fuller — Car- 
son joins Col. Beale as guide — the Apache and Camanche 
Indians 341 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Carson and Maxwell's settlement — exploits in defense of 
his neiglibors — encounter with the Cheyennes — rescue.. 341 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Grand trapping expedition — the Mountain Parks — 
Pike's Peak — Carson drives sheep to California — 
San Francisco — appointed Indian Agent — habits — 
services in New Mexico — his death at Fort Lyon — 
summing up 369 



LIFE OF 



CHRISTOPHER CARSON 



CHAPTER I 



As, for their intrepid boldness and stern 
truthfulness, the exploits and deeds of the old 
Danish sea-kings, have, since the age of Canute, 
been justly heralded in song and story ; so now 
by the world-wide voice of the press, this, their 
descendant, as his name proves him, is brought 
before the world : and as the stern integrity of 
the exploits and deeds of the old Danes in the 
age of Canute were heralded by song and 
story ; so too, in this brief and imperfect me- 
moir, are those of one who by name and birth- 
right claims descent from them. The subject 
of the present memoir, Christopher Carson , fa- 
miliarly known under the appellation of Kit 
Carson, is one of the most extraordinary men 

(13) 



14 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

of the present era. His fame has long been es- 
tablished throughout this country and Europe, 
as a most skillful and intrepid hunter, trap- 
per, guide, and pilot of the prairies and moun- 
tains of the far West, and Indian fighter. But 
his celebrity in these characters is far sur- 
passed by that of his individual personal traits 
of courage, coolness, fidelity, kindness, honor, 
and friendship. The theatre of his exploits is 
extended throughout the whole western portion 
of the territory of the United States, from the 
Mississippi to the Pacific, and his associates 
have been some of the most distinguished men 
of the present age, to all of whom he has be- 
come an object of afi*ectionate regard and 
marked respect. The narrative which follows 
will show his titles to this distinction, so far as 
his modesty (for the truly brave are always 
modest) has permitted the world to learn any- 
thing of his history. 

It appears, from the various declarations of 
those most intimate with Christopher Carson, 
as well as from a biography published a num- 
ber of years before his death, that he was a 
native of Madison county, Kentucky, and was 
born on tbe 24th of December, 1809. Colonel 
Fremont in his exhaustive and interesting Re- 
port of his Exploring Expedition to Oregon 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOX. 15 

and Xorth California, in 1843-44, says that 
Carson is a native of Boonslick county, Mis- 
souri ; and from his long association with the 
hunter, he probably makes the statement on 
Carson's own authority. The error, if it is an 
error, may have arisen from the fact stated by 
Mr. Peters, that Carson's father moved from 
Kentucky to Missouri, when Christopher was 
^nly one year old. He settled in what is now 
Boward county, in the central part of Mis- 
souri. 

At the time of Mr. Carson's emigration, Mis- 
souri was called Upper Louisiana, being a part 
of the territory ceded to the United States by 
France in 1803, and it became a separate State, 
ander the name of Missouri, in 1821. When 
Mr. Carson removed his family from Kentucky, 
ind settled in the new territory, it was a wdld 
region, naturally fertile, thus favoring his views 
as a cultivator ; abounding in wild game, and 
affording a splendid field of enterprise for the 
hunter, but infested on all sides with Indians, 
"»ften hostile, and always treacherous. 

As Ml Carson united the pursuits of farmer 
ind hunter, and lived in a sort of block-house 
or fort, as a precaution against the attacks of 
the neighboring Indians, his son became accus- 
tomed to the presence of danger, and the ne- 



16 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. . 

cessity of earnest action and industry from L .a 
earliest childhood. 

At the age of fifteen, Kit Carson was ap- 
prenticed to Mr. Workman, a saddler. This 
trade requiring close confinement, was, of 
course, utterly distasteful to a boy already ac- 
customed to the use of the rifle, and the stir- 
ring pleasures of the hunter's life, and at the 
end of two years, his apprenticeship was ter- 
minated, for Kit, who, with his experience as 
the son of a noted hunter, himself perfectly fa- 
miliar with the rifle, and, young as he was, 
acknowledged to be one of the best and surest 
shots, even in that State, where such merit pre- 
dominated at that time over almost every other, 
could not bear in patience the silent, sedentary 
monotony of his life, voluntarily abandoned the 
further pursuit of the trade, and sought the more 
active employment of a trader's life. 

His new pursuit was more congenial. He 
joined an armed band of traders in an expedi- 
tion to Santa Fe, the capital of JN'ew Mexico. 
This, at that period, (1826,) was rather a peril- 
ous undertaking, on account of the Indian 
tribes who were ever ready to attack a trading 
caravan, when there was any prospect of over- 
coming it. 'No attack was made on the party, 
however, and no incident of importance oc- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 17 

curred, if we except the accident to one of the 
teamsters who wounded himself by carelessly 
handling a loaded rifle, so as to render it ne- 
cessary to amputate his arm. In this opera- 
tion Carson assisted, the surgical instruments 
being a razor, an old saw, and an iron bolt, 
heated red hot, in order to apply the actual 
cautery. IN'otwithstanding this rough surgery, 
the man recovered.* 

In November (1826) the party arrived at 
Santa Fe, the capital, and the largest town in 
the then Mexican province of JN'ew Mexico. 
This place is situated on the Rio Chiuto, or 
Santa Fe river, an affluent of the Rio Grande, 
from which it is distant about 20 miles. It 
was then, as now, the great emporium of the 
overland trade, which, since 1822, has been 
carried on with the State of Missouri. The 
houses are chiefly built of adobes, or unburnt 
bricks, each dwelling forming a square, with a 
court in the centre upon which the aj)artments 
open. This mode of building, originally Moor- 
ish, prevails in all the colonies settled by the 
Spaniards, as well as in Old Spain, and the 
oriental countries. It makes each house a sort 
of fortress, as General Taylor's troops learned 
to their cost at the siege of Monterey. The 

2 * Peters. 



18 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

front entrance of each house is large enough tf» 
admit animals with their packs. 

Santa Fe is well supplied with cool water 
from springs within its limits, and from foun- 
tains above the city near the neighbouring 
mountain. The appearance of the place is in- 
viting and imposing, as it stands on a plateau 
elevated more than 7000 feet above the sea, 
and near a snow capped mountain, which rises 
5000 feet above the level of the town ; but the 
population is said to be exceedingly depraved. 
The present population is about 5000 ; but at 
the time of Carson's first visit, it was compar- 
atively a small town. 

Soon after their arrival at Santa Fe, Carson 
left the trading band, which he had joined when 
he abandoned the saddlery business, or trade, 
as the reader may choose to term it, and of 
which we have previously spoken, and pro- 
ceeded to Fernandez de Taos. In this place 
Carson passed the winter of 1826-7, at the 
house of a retired mountaineer. And it was 
while residing there, that he acquired that tho- 
rough familiarity with the Spanish language, 
which, in after years, proved of such essential 
service to him. In the spring he joined a 
party bound for Missouri, but meeting another 
band of Santa Fe traders, he joined them and 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEE CARSON. 19 

returned to that place. Here his services be- 
ing no longer required by the traders, he was 
again thrown out of employment. He now 
engaged himself as teamster to a party bound 
to El Paso, a settlement, or more j)roperly a 
line of settlements, embracing a population of 
about 5,000, situated in the rich, narrow valley 
which extends 9 or 10 miles along the right 
bank of the Rio Grande, in the Mexican State 
of Chihuahua, 350 miles S. by W. of Santa Fe. 
Here the grape is extensively cultivated, and 
considerable quantities of light wine and bran* 
d}'', (called by the traders Pass ivine and Pass 
hrandf/,) are made. The houses are like those 
of Santa Fe, built of adobes with earthen floors. 
With abundance of natural advantages, the 
people are content to live without those appli- 
ances of civilized life, considered indispensable 
by the poorest American citizens. Glazed win- 
dows, chairs, tables, knives and forks, and sim- 
ilar every day conveniences are unknown even 
to the rich among the people of El Paso. The 
place is the chief emporium of the trade be- 
tween New Mexico and Chihuahua, and its 
name, " the passage" is derived from the pass- 
age of the river through a gorge or gap in the 
mountain just above the town. 

On his arrival at this place, young Carson 



20 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

might justly be considered in view of his age^ 
(not yet 18,) more than an ordinary traveler. 
He had arrived at a spot where everything was 
strange to him. JN'ew people, new customs, a 
new climate, a wine country, a population of 
mixed breed, half Indian, half Spaniard — ev- 
erything wearing a foreign aspect ; everything 
totally different from his home in Missouri. 

He did not remain long in this place, but re- 
turned to Santa Fe, whence he again found his 
way to Taos, where he passed the winter in the 
service of Mr. Ewing Young, in the humble 
capacity of cook ; this he soon forsook for 
the more pleasant and profitable position of 
Spanish interpreter to a trader named Tram- 
ell, with whom he, for the second time, made 
the long journey to El Paso and Chihuahua. 



CHAPTER II. 

Chihuahua, where Carson had now arrived, 
IS the capital of the Mexican province bearing 
the same name. It is situated on a small trib- 
utary of the Conchos river, in the midst of a 
plain. It is regularly laid out and well built ; 
the streets are broad and some of them paved. 
Like other cities built by the Spaniards, it has 
its great public square, or Plaza Major, on one 
side of which stands the cathedral, an impos- 
ing edifice of hewn stone, built at a cost of 
$300,000. It is surmounted with a dome and 
two towers, and has a handsome facade with 
statues of the twelve apostles, probably the 
first statues that Carson had ever seen. Other 
public buildings surround the square, and there 
is a fountain in the middle. The city contains 
a convent founded by the Jesuits, and an aque- 
duct 3ir miles long, supported by vast arches 
and communicating with the river Chihuahua, 

It has also its mint, and in the neighborhooa 

(21) 



22 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

are silver mines with furnaces for melting the 
ore. It carries on an extensive trade with the 
United States by means of caravans to St. 
Louis in Missouri, and San Antonio in Texas. 
It was founded in 1691, and during the time 
when the silver mines were in successful oper- 
ation, it contained 70,000 inhabitants. The 
population at present is 14,000. 

As he had come with one of the trading car- 
avans in the service of Colonel Tramell as 
Spanish interpreter, we might naturally ex- 
pect that the engagement would be a perma- 
nent one. But such was not the case. The 
monotony of this life soon disgusted him, and 
after weary weeks passed in comparative idle- 
ness, he longed again for the freedom of the 
prairie and the forest, and gladly abandoning 
the rather dignified position of interpreter to 
Colonel Tramell, entered into the service of 
Mr. Robert M. Knight, in the more humble 
capacity of teamster in an expedition to the 
copper mines on the river Gila, whence he 
soon after found his way back to Taos. 

It was during this visit to Taos that Carson 
was first enabled to gratify the desire which he 
had long entertained of becoming a regular 
hunter and trapper. A party of trappers in 
the service of Carson's old friend, Mr. Ewing 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 23 

Young, had returned to Taos, having been 
beaten off from their hunting and trapping 
grounds by a hostile band of Indians. Mr. 
Young raised a party of forty men, for the 
double purpose of chastising the Indians, and 
resuming the business of trapping, and Carson 
joined them. The fact that he was accepted 
for this service was a marked token of esteem 
for his valor, as Avell as his skill in hunting, par- 
ties of this description always avoiding the en- 
listment of inexperienced recruits, as likely to 
embarrass their operations in the field. 

The ostensible object of the expedition was 
to punish the Indians, but its ultimate purpose 
was to trap for beavers. The Mexicans by an 
express law had forbidden granting licenses to 
any American parties, and in this instance a 
circuitous route was chosen to conceal their 
real design. 

They did not fall in with the Indians of whom 
they were in pursuit, until they had reached 
the head of one of the afiluents of the Rio Gila, 
called Salt River. Once in presence of their 
enemies they made short work with them, kill- 
ing fifteen of their warriors, and putting the 
whole band to rout. Such occurrences were by 
no means unfrequent, as we shall see in the 
course of this narrative. A small body of 



24 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHEE CAESON. 

experienced hunters and trappers, confident in 
their superior skill and discipline, never hesi- 
tates to attack a greatly superior number of 
Indians, and it was a rare thing that success 
did not attend their daring. The Indian is not 
fond of a " fair stand up fight." He prefers 
stratagem and ambush, and reverences as a 
great " brave," the warrior who is most success- 
ful in circumventing his enemies, and bringing 
oif many scalps without the loss of a man ; but 
when a considerable number of Indians are 
shot down in the first onset, the remainder are 
very apt to take to flight in every direction. 

We have said that Carson joined the party 
of trappers under the command of Mr. Ewing 
Young, and it may not be out of place to de- 
scribe briefly the mode of life which parties 
in that pursuit have to adopt, with a few re- 
marks upon the habits and haunts of the ani- 
mal, for whose sake men were then so willing 
to risk their lives, and to undergo such hard- 
ships. 

The method of trapping for beaver formerly 
employed by the trappers in the western coun- 
try, is thus described by one who has had con- 
siderable experience in the art ; and we quote it 
as illustrating the severe training to which 
Carson had voluntarily subjected himself: 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON, 25 

"To be a successful trapper, required great 
caution as well as a perfect knowledge of the 
habits of the animal. The residence of the 
beaver was often discovered by seeing bits of 
green wood, and gnawed branches of the bass- 
wood, slippery elm, and sycamore, their favor- 
ite food, floating on the water, or lodged on 
the shores of the stream below, as well as by 
their tracks or foot-marks. These indications 
were technically called heaver sign. They were 
also sometimes discovered by their dams, 
thrown across creeks and small sluggish 
streams, forming a pond in which were erected 
their habitations. 

" The hunter, as he proceeded to set his traps, 
generally approached by water, in his canoe. 
He selected a steep, abrupt spot in the bank 
of the creek, in which a hole was excavated 
with his paddle, as he sat in the canoe, suffi- 
ciently large to hold the trap, and so deep as 
to be about three inches below the surface of 
the water, when the jaws of the trap were ex- 
panded. About two feet above the trap, a 
stick, three or four inches in length, was stuck 
in the bank. In the upper end of this, the 
trapper excavated a small hole with his knife, 
into which he dropped a small quantity of the 
essence, or perfume, which was used to attract 



26 LIFE OF CHKISTOPHER CARSON. 

the beaver to the spot. This stick was attached 
by a string of horse hair to the trap, and with 
it was pulled into the water by the beaver. 
The reason for this was, that it might not re- 
main after the trap was sprung, and attract 
other beavers to the spot, and thus prevent 
their going to where there was another trap 
ready for them. 

" The scent, or essence, was made by mingling 
the fresh castor of the beaver, with an extract 
of the bark of the roots of the spice-bush, and 
kept in a bottle for use. The making of this 
essence was held a profound secret, and often 
sold for a considerable sum to the younger 
trappers, by the older proficients in the mys- 
tery of beaver hunting. Where they had no 
proper bait, they sometimes made use of the 
fresh roots of sassafras, or spice-bush ; of- both 
these the beaver was very fond. 

"It is said by old trappers that they will 
smell the well-prepared essence the distance 
of a mile. Their sense of smell is very acute, 
or they would not so readily detect the vicin- 
ity of man by the smell of his trail. The 
aroma of the essence having attracted the ani- 
mal into the vicinity of the trap, in his attempt 
to reach it, he has to climb up on to the bank 
where it is sticking. This eifort leads him di- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 27 

rectly over the trap, and he is usually taken 
by one of the fore legs. The trap was con- 
nected by a chain of iron, six feet in length, to 
a stout line made of the bark of the leather- 
wood, twisted into a neat cord, of fifteen or 
twenty feet. These were usually prepared by 
the trappers at home or at their camps, for 
cords of hemp or flax were scarce in the days 
of beaver hunting. The end of the line was 
secured to a stake driven into the bed of the 
creek under water, and in his struggles to es- 
cape, the beaver was usually drowned before 
the arrival of the trapper. Sometimes, how- 
ever, he freed himself by gnawing off his own 
leg, though this was rarely the case. If there 
was a prospect of rain, or it was raining at the 
time of setting the trap, a leaf, generally of 
sycamore, was placed over the essence stick, to 
protect it from the rain. 

" The beaver being a very sagacious and cau- 
tious animal, it required great care in the trap- 
per in his ap]3roach to its haunts to set his 
traps, that no scent of his feet or hands was 
left on the earth, or bushes that he touched. 
For this reason he generally approached in a 
canoe. If he had no canoe, it was necessary 
to enter the stream thirty or forty yards below, 
and walk in the water to the place, taking care to 



28 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

return in the same manner, lest the beaver should 
take alarm and not come near the bait, as his 
fear of the vicinity of man was greater than 
his sense of appetite for the essence. It also 
required caution in kindling a fire near their 
haunts, as the smell of smoke alarmed them. 
The firing of a gun, also, often marred the 
sport of the trapper, and thus it will be seen 
that to make a successful beaver hunter, re- 
quired more qualities or natural gifts than falJ 
to the share of most men.'^ 



CHAPTER III. 

Carson's previous liabits and pursuits had 
eminently qualified him to become an useful 
and even a distinguished member of Mr. 
Young's company of trappers. He had lived 
in the midst of danger from his childhoood. 
He was familiar with the use of arms; and 
several years of travel and adventure had al 
ready given him more knowledge of the west- 
ern wilds in the neighborhood of the region 
which was the scene of their present opera- 
tions, than was possessed by many who had 
seen more years than himself. Added to this, 
he had become well acquainted with the pecu- 
liar character and habits of the western In- 
dians, who were now prowling around their 
camp, and occasionally stealing their traps, 
game, and animals. 

The party pursued their business sucooss- 
fuUy for some time on the Salt and San Fran- 
cisco rivers, when a part of them returned ti> 

(29) 



30 LIFE OF CHEl^TOPHER CAESOT^", 

New Mexico, and the remainder, eighteen in 
number, under the lead of Mr. Young, started 
for the valley of Sacramento, California, and 
it was to this latter party Carson was attached. 
Their route led them through one of the dry 
deserts of the country, and not only did they 
suffer considerably from the want of water, 
but their provisions giving out, they were often 
happy when they could make a good dinner on 
horse-flesh. Xear the Canon of the Colorado 
tney encountered a party of Mohave Indians, 
who furnished them with some provisions, 
which relieved them from the apprehension 
of immediate want. 

The Mohave Indians are thus described by a 
recent visiter : 

" These Indians are probably in as wild a 
state of nature as any tribe on American terri- 
tory. They have not had sufficient intercourse 
with any civilized people, to acquire a know- 
ledge of their language, or their vices. It was 
said that no white party had ever before passed 
through their country without encountering 
hostility; nevertheless they appear intelli- 
gent, and to have naturally amiable dispo- 
sitions. The men are tall, erect, and well-pro- 
portioned; their features inclined to European 
regularity; their eyes large, shaded by long 



LIFE OF CHKISTOPHER CARSON. 31 

lashes, and surrounded by circles of blue pig- 
ment, that add to their apparent size. The 
apron, or breech-cloth for men, and a short 
petticoat, made of strips of the inner bark of 
the cotton-wood, for women, are the only arti- 
cles of dress deemed indispensable ; but many 
of the females have long robes, or cloaks, of 
fur. The young girls wear beads ; but when 
married, their chins are tattooed with vertical 
blue lines, and they wear a necklace with a 
single sea-shell in front, curiously wrought. 
These shells are very ancient, and esteemed of 
great value. 

*' From time to time they rode into the 
camp, mounted on spirited horses ; their bodies 
and limbs painted and oiled, so as to present 
the appearance of highly-polished mahogany. 
The dandies paint their faces perfectly black. 
Warriors add a streak of red across the fore- 
head, nose, and chin. Their ornaments consist 
of leathern bracelets, adorned with bright but- 
tons, and worn on the left arm; a kind of 
tunic, made of buckskin fringe, hanging from 
the shoulders ; beautiful eagles' feathers, called 
* sormeh' — sometimes white, sometimes of a 
crimson tint — tied to a lock of hair, and float- 
ing from the top of the head ; and, finally, 
strings of wampum, made of circular pieces of 



32 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

shell, with holes in the centre, by which they 
are strung, often to the length of several yards, 
and worn in coils about the neck. These shell 
beads, which they call ' pook,' are their sub- 
stitute for money, and the wealth of an indi- 
vidual is estimated by the 'pook' cash he 
possesses." 

Soon after leaving the Mohave Indians, Mr. 
Young's party, proceeding westward, arrived at 
the Mission of San Gabriel. This is one of 
these extensive establishments formed by the 
Roman Catholic clergy in the early times of 
California, which form so striking a feature in 
the country. This Mission of San Glabriel, 
about the time of Carson's visit, was in a flour- 
ishing condition. By statistical accounts, in 
1829, it had 70,000 head of cattle, 1,200 horses, 
3,000 mares, 400 mules, 120 yoke of working 
cattle, and 254,000 sheep. From the vineyards 
of the mission were made 600 barrels of wine, 
the sale of which produced an income of up- 
wards of $12,000. There were between twenty 
and thirty such missions in California at that 
time, of which San Gabriel was by no means 
the largest. They had all been founded since 
1769, when the first, San Diego, was established. 
The labor in these establishments was per- 
formed by Indian converts, who received in 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON". 33 

return a bare support, and a very small modi- 
cum of what was called religious instruction. 
Each mission had its Catholic priests, a few 
Spanish or Mexican soldiers, and Hundreds, 
sometimes thousands of Indians. 

The following interesting account of those of 
Upper California, we transcribe from a recent 
work of high authority.* 

" The missions of Upper California were in- 
debted for their beginning and chief success to 
the subscriptions which, as in the case of the 
missionary settlements of the lower province, 
were largely bestowed by the pious to promote 
so grand a work as turning a great country to 
the worship of the true God. Such subscrip- 
tions continued for a long period, both in Old 
and New Spain, and were regularly remitted 
to the City of Mexico, where they were formed 
into what was called ' The Pious Fund of Call- 
formal This fund was managed by the con- 
vent of San Fernando and other trustees in 
Mexico, and the proceeds, together with the 
annual salaries allowed by the Crown to the 
missionaries, were transmitted to California. 
Meanwhile, the Spanish court scarcely interfered 

* Annals of San Francisco. By Frank Soul6, John H 

Grihon, and James Nisbet. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 

1855 
3 



34 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

with the temporal government of the country. 
It was true that some of the ordinary civil offi- 
ces and establishments were kept up ; but this 
was only in name, and on too small a scale to 
be of any practical importance. A command- 
ante-general was appointed by the Crown to 
command the garrisons of the presidios ; but as 
these were originally established solely to pro- 
tect the missions from the dreaded violence of 
hostile Indians, and to lend them, w^hen neces- 
sary, the carnal arm of offence, he was not al- 
lowed to interfere in the temporal rule of the 
Fathers. He resided at Monterey, and his 
annual salary was four thousand dollars. 

" In every sense of the word, then, these 
monks were practically the sovereign rulers of 
California — passing laws affecting not only 
property, but even life and death — declaring 
peace and war against their Indian neighbors 
— regulating, receiving, and spending the fi- 
nances at discretion — and, in addition, drawing 
large annual subsidies not only from the pious 
among the faithful over all Christendom, but 
even from the Spanish monarchy itself, almost 
as a tribute to their being a superior state 
This surely was the golden age of the missions 
— a contented, peaceful, believing people, abun- 
dant wealth for all their wants, despotic will, 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 35 

and no responsibility but to their own con- 
sciences and heaven! Their horn was filled 
to overflowing ; but soon an invisible and mer- 
ciless hand seized it, and slowly and linger- 
ingly, as if in malicious sport, turned it over, 
and spilled the nectar of their life upon the 
wastes of mankind, from whence it can never 
again be collected. The golden age of another 
race has now dawned, and with it the real 
prosperity of the country. 

" The missions were originally formed on 
the same general plan, and they were planted 
at such distances from each other as to allow 
abundant room for subsequent development 
They were either established on the sea-coast, 
or a few miles inland. Twenty or thirty miles 
indeed seems all the distance the missionaries 
had proceeded into the interior ; beyond which 
narrow belt the country was unexplored and 
unknown. Each mission had a considerable 
piece of the best land in the neighborhood set 
aside for its agricultural and pastoral purposes, 
which was commonly about fifteen miles square. 
But besides this selected territory, there was 
generally much more vacant land lying be- 
tween the boundaries of the missions, and 
which, as the increase of their stocks required 
more space for grazing, was gradually occupied 



36 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

by the flocks and herds of the Fathers, nearest 
to whose mission lay the previously unoccu- 
pied district. Over these bounds the Fathers 
conducted all the operations of a gigantic farm. 
Their cattle generally numbered from ten 
thousand to twenty thousar^ and their sheep 
were nearly as numeruus — though some mis- 
sions had upwards of thrice these numbers — 
which fed over perhaps a hundred thousand 
acres of fertile land. 

" Near the centre of such farms were placed 
the mission buildings. These consisted of the 
church — which was either built of stone, if that 
material could be procured in the vicinity, or 
of adobes^ which are bricks dried in the sun ; 
and was as substantial, large, and richly deco- 
rated an erection as the means of the mission 
would permit, or the skill and strength of their 
servants could construct. In the interior, pic- 
tures and hangings decorated the walls ; while 
the altars were ornamented with marble pillars 
of various colors, and upon and near them 
stood various articles of massy gold and silver 
plate. A profusion of gilding and tawdry 
sparkling objects caught and pleased the eye 
of the simple congregations. Around, or be- 
side the church, and often in the form of a 
square, were grouped the habitations of the 



LIFE OF CflKISTOPHER CAKSON. 3'. 

Fjtthofs and their household servants, and the 
various granaries and workshops of the peo- 
ple ; while, at the distance of one or two hun- 
dred yards, stood the huts of the Indians. The 
former buildings were constructed of adobes^ 
and covered with brick tiles, frail and misera- 
ble materials at the best. The huts of the In- 
dians were occasionally made of the same 
materials, but more commonly were formed 
only of a few rough poles, stuck in the ground, 
with the points bending towards the centre 
like a cone, and were covered with reeds and 
grass. An adobe wall of considerable height 
sometimes inclosed the whole village. The 
direction of the affairs of the settlement was in 
the hands of one of the Fathers, originally 
called a president, but afterwards a prefect; 
and each prefect was independent in his own 
mission, and practically supreme in all its tem- 
poral, and nearly in all its spiritual matters, 
to any human authority. 

" Thus the Fathers might be considered to 
have lived something in the style of the patri- 
archs of the days of Job and Abraham. They 
indeed were generally ignorant and unlettered 
men, knowing little more than the mechanical 
rites of their church, and what else their man- 
uals of devotion and the treasuries of the lives 



38 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

of th'.) saints taught them; but they seem to 
tiave been personally devout, self-denying, and 
beneficent in their own simple way. They 
thought they did Grod service, and perhaps 
much more the Indians themselves, in catch- 
ing, taming, and converting them to Christian- 
ity. That was their vocation in the world, and 
they faithfully obeyed its calls of duty. To- 
wards the converts and actually domesticated 
servants, they always showed such an aifec- 
tionate kindness as a father pays to the young- 
est and most helpless of his family. The 
herds and flocks of the Fathers roamed undis- 
turbed over numberless hills and valleys. 
Their servants or slaves were true born chil- 
dren of the house, who laboured lightly and 
pleasantly, and had no sense of freedom nor 
desire for change. A rude but bounteous hos- 
pitality marked the master's reception of the 
solitary wayfarer, as he traveled from mission 
to mission, perhaps bearing some scanty news 
from the outer world, all the more welcome 
that the Fathers knew little of the subject, and 
could not be affected by the events and dan- 
gers of distant societies. All these things 
have now passed away. The churches have 
fallen into decay, deserted by the old worship- 
ers, and poverty-stricken; the adobe houses 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 39 

of the Fathers are in ruins — and there is 
scarcely any trace left of the slightly erected 
huts of the Indians, who themselves have de- 
serted their old hearths and altars, and are 
silently, though rapidly, disappearing from the 
land. But the memory of the patriarchal 
times, for they were only as yesterday, still 
remains fresh in the minds of the early white 
settlers." 

Mr. Young's party did not remain long to 
enjoy the sumptuous fare at the Mission of San 
Grabriel; but pushed on to that of San Fer- 
nando, and thence to the river and fertile val- 
ley of Sacramento. In this neighborhood they 
trapped for beaver, and Carson displayed his 
activity and skill as a hunter of deer, elk, and 
antelope. 



CHAPTER IV 

Only familiarity with one of like character, 
by actually seeing it, can give a just idea of the 
country through which they were traveling. 
Livingston's descriptions of localities in Cen- 
tral Africa might be transferred to our pages 
verbatim, to give a word-painting of the desicca- 
ted deserts of what is now JSTew Mexico and Ari- 
zona. Carson's curiosity, as well as care to pre- 
serve the knowledge for future use, led him to 
note in memory, every feature of the wild land- 
scape, its mountain chains, its desert prairies, 
with only clumps of the poor artemisia for ve- 
getation, its rivers, and the oases upon their 
banks, where there were bottom-lands — nor 
were beaver found elsewhere — ^with its river 
beds whose streams had found a passage be- 
neath the surface of the earth, and each other 
general feature that would attract the eye of 
the natural, rather than the scientific ob- 
server. 

C40) 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 41 

In our clay, the note book of the pioneer 
furnishing the data, the traveler carries a 
guide-book to direct his course from point to 
point, upon a well trodden road, to those 
places where grass and water will furnish re- 
freshment for his animals, while he regales 
himself, not upon the spare-rib of a starved 
mule, killed because it could go no longer, but 
upon a variety of good things from the well 
stocked larder of the pouches of the saddle- 
bags his pack mule carries, or the provision 
box of his wagon. Or, instead of the meat- diet 
of the trapper, when he has been in luck in a 
fertile locality, the traveler — not trapper — of 
to-day, perhaps has shot a prairie chicken, and 
prepares his dinner by making a stew of it, 
which he consumes with hard bread he has 
purchased at a station not ten miles away. 

Familiarity with the features of the country 
does not restore the experience of the pioneer 
of these wilds. The Indian, now, is advised by 
authorit}^ he seldom dares defy, to keep off the 
roads of the emigrants; and seldom does a 
party leave the road for any great distance ; 
nor are these roads infrequent, but the country 
is intersected with them, and the guide-books 
protect against mistake in taking the wrong di 
rection. The test of character, however, witL 



42 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

the trappers, was their ability to endure hard- 
ships when they had to be encountered ; and 
to guard against them, when they could be 
avoided, by a wise foresight in taking advan- 
tage of every favor of fortune, and turning 
each freak or whim of the wily dame to best 
account. 

Carson was delighted with California from 
the first, and realizing intense satisfaction in 
his position, yet a youth, on terms of easy fa- 
miliarity with the other seventeen old trappers, 
especially selected for this expedition, circum- 
stances conspired to call into play all the activ- 
ities of his nature, and nothing intruded to 
prevent his resigning himself to the impulses 
of the time, and making the most of every oc- 
casion that offered. 

He had the confidence of Capt. Young and 
of all his men, who permitted him to do pre- 
cisely as he chose, for they found him not only 
intending always to do what was best, but pos- 
sessed of foresight to know always "just the 
things that ought to be done," almost without 
efi*ort, as it seemed to them. 

After leaving the Mission of San Fernando, 
Young's party trapped upon the San Joaquim, 
but they found that another party of trappers 
had been there before them, employed by the 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 43 

Hudson Bay Company, in Oregon. There was 
however, room for them both, and they trapped 
near each other for weeks. The friendly inter- 
course kept up between the two parties, was 
not only one of pleasant interchange of social 
kindness, but in one sense was essentially use- 
ful to Kit, who lost no opportunity of improv- 
ing himself in the profession (for in those days 
trapping was a profession) which he had em- 
braced, and he had the benefit of the experi- 
ence by way of example, not only of his own 
companions, but of those who were connected 
with the greatest and most influential company 
then in existence on this Continent. It is 
hardly necessary to say that he lost no oppor- 
tunity of acquiring information, and it is quite 
probable that he would, if called on, allow that 
the experience acquired on this expedition was 
among the most valuable of any which he had 
previously gained. 

When Mr. Young went to the Sacramento, 
he separated from the Hudson Bay party. 
The beautiful Sacramento, as its waters glided 
toward the chain of bays that take it to the 
ocean through the Bay of San Francisco out 
at the Golden gate, had not the aspect of the 
eastern river's immediate tributaries of the 
Missouri , Its waters then were clear as crystal, 



44 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 

and the salmon floated beneath, glistening m 
the sunlight, as the canoe glided through them. 

The very air of this valley is luxurious ; and 
in speaking of it, we will include the valley of 
the San Joaquim, for both these streams run par- 
allel with the coast, the Sacramento from the 
north, the San Joaquim from the south, and 
both unite at the head of the chain of bays 
which pour their waters into the Pacific. 

The Sacramento drains nearly three hun- 
dred miles of latitude, and the San Joaquim an 
hundred and fifty miles of the country bounded 
by the Sierra IN'evada (snow mountains) on 
the east, and the coast range on the west, the 
whole forming a great basin, with the moun- 
tains depressed on the north and south, but 
with no outlet except through the Grolden gate 



CHAPTER V. 

Ho climate could be more congenial to a 
full flow of animal spirits, than this region, 
where, upon the vegetation of the rich black 
soil — often twenty feet deep — game of the 
better class in great abundance found support. 
Deer in no part of the world was ever more 
plenty, and elk and antelope bounded through 
the old oak groves, as they may have done in 
Eden. 

Carson had many opportunities of exploring 
the country, which he gladly embraced, and 
thus became familiar with many localities, the 
knowledge of which was in after years of such 
essential service to him and others. 

There were many large tribes of Indians 
jcattered through this country, in these and 
smaller valleys, beside those which the mis- 
sions had attached to them. We know not 
that any record has been kept of the names of 

these tribes and their numbers : but since the 

(45) 



46 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON". 

white men intruded, they have melted away as 
did earlier those east of the Mississippi. 

These Indians were all of the variety called 
Dio-o-ers, but in better condition than we see 
them, since the small remnants of large tribes 
have adopted the vices of the white men, and 
learned improvidence, by sometimes having 
plenty without much, toil; so that they can 
say to-day, " JN'o deer, no acorn ; white man 
come ! poor Indian hungry," as the happiest 
style of begging. 

A brief description of the Tlamath oi Dig- 
ger Indians, and their mode of living, may not 
now be out of place, and having been visited 
by Carson in his earlier years, may not be un- 
interesting. We quote from the language of 
one w^ho has paid a recent visit to the tribe : 

" There were a dozen wigwams for the nearly 
hundred that composed the tribe, one of which 
was much larger than the rest, and in the centre 
of the group, the temple, or " medicine lodge." 
As w^e entered, the bones of game consumed, 
and other offal lay about ; and to our inquiry 
why they did not clear away and be more tidy, 
only a grunt was returned. The men had 
gone fishing, said the Indian woman we ad- 
dressed, so we saw but two or three ; but in 
one wigwam which we entered there were four- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 47 

teen with ourselves — the rest, besides the boy 
who went before to announce us, were women 
and children. 

"We ascended a mound of earth, as it 
seemed, about six feet high, and through a cir- 
cular hole, perhaps two feet and a half in dia- 
meter, descended a perpendicular ladder about 
ten feet. This opening, through which we en- 
tered, performed the double office of door and 
window to the space below, which was cir- 
cular, about fourteen feet across, with arrange- 
ments for sleeping, like berths in a steamboat, 
one over another, on two sides, suspended by 
tying with bark a rough stick to upright posts, 
which served to hold the sticks that sustained 
the roof. The whole was substantially built, 
the covering being the earth which was taken 
from the spot beneath, heaped upon a layer of 
rushes, the floor of the wigwam being four 
feet below the surface of the ground. On the two 
sides of the wigwam not occupied by the berths, 
were barrels filled with fish — dried salmon, 
seeds, acorns, and roots. 

" On hooks from the rush lined ceiling hung 
bags and baskets, containing such luxuries as 
dried grasshoppers and berries. About the 
berths hung deer skins and some skins of other 
game, seemingly prepared for wear. There 



48 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

was no appearance of other dress, yet in the 
berths sat three women, braiding strips of deer 
skin, and attaching the braids to a string, in 
the form of long fringe. Each of the women 
wore an apron of this kind about the waist, 
and only the dress of nature beside. The 
children were dressed ^in^puris 7iaturalihus.^ 

" After stopping ten minutes, we were glad to 
ascend to the open air, for a sickness came over 
us from which we did not recover for several 
hours. How human beings live in such an at- 
mosphere we cannot tell, but this is the way 
they habitate. 

" When the grasshoppers were abundant, for 
this insect is one of the luxuries of the Diggers, 
they scoured the vatley, gathering them in im- 
mense quantities. This is done by first dig- 
ging holes or pits in the ground at the spot 
chosen. Then the whole party of Indians, 
each with the leafy branch of a tree, form a 
circle about it and drive in the grasshoppers 
till they heap them upon each other in the 
pits : water is then poured in to drown them. 
Their booty gathered, they proceed to another 
place and perform the same operation. These 
insects are prepared for food by kindling a fire 
in one of these pits, and when it is heated, fill- 
ing it with them and covering it with a heated 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 49 

stone, where . they are left to bake. They are 
now ready for use at any time, and eaten with 
gusto, or they are powdered, and mixed with 
the acorn meal in a kind of bread, which is 
baked in the ashes. 

To return to the camp of trappers, and wit- 
ness one day's duties, may be gratifying to tlie 
reader. With early dawn the traps are visited, 
and the beaver secured. The traps are re-ad- 
justed, and the game brought into camp — or 
left to be skinned where it is if the camp is far 
away. Meantime breakfast has been prepared 
by one of the party ; others have looked after 
the animals, relieving the watch which is still 
kept up lest a stampede occur while all are 
slee]3ing. Carson could not be cook for the 
party constantly, but takes his turn with the 
rest, and by the nice browning of his steak, 
and the delicacy of his acorn coffee, and the ad- 
dition to their meal of roasted kamas root, he 
proves the value of the apprenticeship of his 
earlier years. He has a dish of berries, too, 
and surprises the party with this tempting 
dessert, as well as with the information that 
in his rambles the day before he had dined 
with an old Californian, with his wife and 
daughters, and had the promise from them 



50 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CARSON. 

of a COW, if he would call for it on the mor- 
row. 

Breakfast over, and the remains put by for 
lunch at noon, Carson mounts his pony, and 
riding a few miles down the bank swims the 
river, and dashing out among the hills with a 
high round mountain peak in view, still miles 
away, is lost among the oak groves for a score 
of miles, and at length emerges on Susan bay, 
and doffs his hat and makes his bow to the 
young Senorita who greets him at the door with 
a smile of welcome. The sun is low ; dinner 
waits — hot bread, and butter, and cheese, and 
coffee with sugar, are added to the venison 
and beef, and Irish and sweet potatoes. Amid 
tiie civilities and pleasant chat, the hour passes 
happily, and Carson proposes returning to his 
party. 

The ladies will not allow him to depart 
Will he not accept the hospitality of their 
mansion for a single night ? They do not urge 
after one refusal, because his every feature in- 
dicates the decision of his character. He must 
go. His horse is brought — a young and beau- 
tiful animal — and the cow, this object of his 
second journey thither, given him in charge as 
he mounts, with a rope attached to her horns, 
by which to lead her. The full moon is rising, 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER C»RSON. 51 

on which he had calculated, as he told his host- 
esses, and with words of pleasant compliment, 
with which the Spanish language so much more 
than ours abounds, and a Buenos noches, senor, 
from his entertainers, and Buenos noches, senor- 
itas, in return, he slowly winds his silent way 
on and on through the oak groves and the 
wild oats covering the hill-sides, hearing only 
the song of the owl and the whippoorwill, the 
music of the insects, and the whispering leaves, 
but with ear ever open to detect the stealthy 
tread of the monster of the wood and hills — the 
grizzly bear. Off on the distant hill he sees one, 
with a cub following her; but game is plenty, 
and deer is good enough food for her. On, on he 
goes' at slow pace, for he has a delicate charge, 
and already is she restive from very weariness, 
though his pace is slow. 

Half his journey is completed as the gray 
of dawn and the twinkle of the star of morning 
relieves the tedium and anxiety of his loneli- 
ness. He has made the circuit of the bay. 
The river is before him as he descends the hill 
which he has ascended for observation. Morn- 
ing broadens. The flowers glow with varie- 
gated beauty as he tramples them, and in some 
patches the odor of the crushed dewy beauties 
fills the air to satiety. 



52 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

A few miles more of travel and he crosses 
the river, and is again in the river-bottom 
where the party have taken the beaver. He 
stops at an Indian village, and dines from the 
liberal haunch and the acorn bread the chief 
presents, and with good feelings displayed on 
either side, takes in his arms a young papoose, 
the digger's picaninny, and salutes it with a 
kiss. Kit leaves there a trifling, but to them, 
valuable memorial of his visit, mounts his sor- 
rel which is restive under the slow gait to 
which he has restrained him, takes the rope 
again which secures his treasure, the cow, and 
plods towards home at evening. The camp fire 
smokes in the distance, while the few horses 
that remain are staked about, and the sentinel 
paces up and down to keep off the drowsiness 
indn^.ed by fatigue and a hearty meat supper. 
The eastern and the western horizon are 
lighte 1 Avith pale silver by the departing god of 
day, a ^d the approaching goddess of the night, 
and Oi) still river divides the plain, bounded 
Dnly b/ the horizon, except he look behind 
him. Such is the scene as, approaching, the 
sentinel raises his gun and gives the chal- 
lenge to halt. But the rest of the camp 
are not yet sleeping, and a dozen voices shout 



LIEE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 53 

in the still evening a glad welcome to Car- 
son, for whom they were not concerned, 
for they well knew there was not one of 
the party so well able to take care of himself 
as he 



CHAPTER VI. 

Peters, in his " Life of Carson," tells the 
story of two expeditions which Carson led 
against the Indians, while they trapped upon 
the Sacramento, which give proof of his cour- 
age, and thorough education in the art of In- 
dian warfare, which had become a necessity to 
the voyageur on the plains, and in the moun- 
tains of the western wilds. With his quick 
discrimination of character, and familiarity 
with the habits of the race, he could not but 
know the diggers were less bold than the 
Apaches and Camanches, with whom he was 
before familiar. 

The Indians at the Mission San Gabriel, 
were restive under coerced labor, and forty of 
them made their escape to a tribe not far away. 

The mission demanded the return of these 

fugitives, and being refused, gave battle to the 

neighboring tribe, but were defeated. The Padre 

sent to the trappers for assistance to compel the 

Indians not to harbor their people. Carson 
(54) 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 55 

and eleven of his companions volunteered to 
aid the mission, and the attack upon the In- 
dian village resulted in the destruction of a 
third of its inhabitants, and compelled them 
to submission. Capt. Young found at this 
mission a trader to t^ke his furs, and from 
them purchased a drove of horses. Directly 
after his return, a party of Indians contrived 
to drive away sixty horses from the trappers, 
while the sentinel slept at night. Carson with 
twelve men were sent in pursuit. It was not 
difficult to follow the fresh trail of so large a 
drove, yet he pursued them a hundred miles, 
and into the mountains, before coming up with 
them. The Indians supposed themselves too 
far away to be followed, and were feasting on 
the flesh of the stolen horses they had slaugh- 
tered. Carson's party arranged themselves 
silently and without being seen, and rushing 
upon the Indian camp, killed eight men, and 
scattered the remainder in every direction. 
The horses were recovered, except the six 
killed, and partly consumed, and with three 
Indian children left in camp, they returned to 
the joyful greetings of their friends. 

Early in the autumn of 1829, Mr. Young 
and his party of trappers set out on their re- 
turn home. On their route they visited Los 



56 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

^Aiigelos, formerly called Pueblo de los An 
gelos, " the city of the angels," a name which 
it received on account of the exceedingly genial 
climate, and the beauty of the surrounding 
country. It is situated on a small river of the 
same name, 30 miles -^jom its mouth, and on 
the road between the cities of San Jose and 
San Diego. It is about three hundred and 
fifty miles east of San Francisco, and a hun- 
dred miles to the south. 

Although to very many thousands of readers, 
anything on the subject of the climate of Cali- 
fornia may seem superfluous, yet there are as 
many thousands who have no really distinct 
idea of the country or the climate, and we 
therefore quote from Rev. Dr. Bushnell, whose 
article on those topics in the " New Eng- 
lander," in 1858, attracted justly such univer- 
sal attention : 

" The first and most difficult thing to appre- 
hend respecting California is the climate, upon 
which, of course, depend the advantages of 
health and physical development, the growths 
and their conditions and kinds, and the modus 
0]perand% or general cast, of the seasons. But 
this, again, is scarcely possible, without dis- 
missing, first of all, the word climate^ and sub- 
Btituting the plural, climates. For it cannot be 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CiSRSON. 57 

said of California, as of New England, or the 
Middle States, that it has a climate. On the 
contrary, it has a great multitude, curiously 
pitched together, at short distances, one from 
another, defying too, not seldom, our most ac- 
cepted notions of the effects of latitude and al- 
titude and the defences of mountain ranges. 
The only way, therefore, is to dismiss general- 
ities, cease to look for a climate, and find, if we 
can, by what process the combinations and va- 
rieties are made ; for when we get hold of the 
manner and going on of causes, all the varie- 
ties are easily reducible. 

" To make this matter intelligible, conceive 
that Middle California, the region of which we 
now speak, lying between the head waters of 
the two great rivers, and about four hundred 
and fifty or five hundred miles long from 
north to south, is divided lengthwise, parallel 
to the coast, into three strips, or ribands of 
about equal width. First, the coast- wise re- 
gion, comprising two, three, and sometimes 
four parallel tiers of mountains from ^ve hun- 
dred to four thousand, five thousand, or even 
ten thousand feet high. JSText, advancing in- 
ward, we have a middle strip, from fifty to sev- 
enty miles wide, of almost dead plain, which is 
called the great valley ; down the scarcely per- 



58 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

ceptible slopes of which, from north to souths 
and south to north, run the two great rivers, 
the Sacramento and the San Joaquim, to join 
their waters at the middle of the basin and 
pass off to the sea. The third long strip, or 
riband, is the slope of the Sierra IN'evada chain, 
which bounds the great valley on the east, and 
contains in its foot-hills, or rather in its lower 
half, all the gold mines. The upper half is, to 
a great extent, bare granite rock, and is crowned 
at the summit, with snow, about eight months 
of the year. 

" 'Now the climate of these parallel strips 
will be different almost of course, and subordi- 
nate, local differences, quite as remarkable, will 
result from subordinate features in the local 
configurations, particularly of the seaward strip 
or portion. For all the varieties of climate, 
distinct as they become, are made by variations 
wrought in the rates of motion, the courses, 
the temperature, and the dryness of a single 
wind ; viz., the trade wind of the summer 
months, which blows directly inward all the 
time, only with much greater power during 
that part of the day when the rarefaction of 
the great central valley comes to its aid ; that 
is, from about ten o'clock in the morning, to the 
setting of the sun. Conceive such a wind. 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 59 

ehilled by the cold waters that have come down 
from the Northern Pacific, perhaps from Beh- 
ring's Straits, combing the tops and wheeling 
round through the valleys of the coastwise 
mountains, crossing the great valley at a much 
retarded rate, and growing hot and dry, fan- 
ning gently the foot-hills and sides of the Sierra, 
still more retarded by the piling necessary to 
break over into Utah, and the conditions of 
the California climate, or climates, will be un- 
derstood with general accuracy. Greater sim- 
plicity in the matter of climate is impossible, 
and greater variety is hardly to be imagined. 

" For the whole dry season, viz., from May 
to I^ovember, this wind is in regular blast, 
day by day, only sometimes approaching a lit- 
tle more nearly to a tempest than at others. 
It never brings a drop of rain, however thick 
and rain-like the clouds it sometimes drives be- 
fore it. The cloud element, indeed, is always 
in it. Sometimes it is floated above, in the 
manner commonly designated by the term 
cloud. Sometimes, as in the early morning, 
when the wind is most quiet, it may be seen as 
a kind of fog bank resting on the sea-wall 
mountains or rolling down landward through 
the interstices of their summits. When the 
wind begins to hurry and take on less compos- 



60 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON 

edly, the fog becomes blown fog, a kind of lead 
dust driven through the air, reducing it from a 
transparent to a semi-tfansparent or merely 
translucent state, so that if any one looks up 
the bay, from a point twenty or thirty miles 
south of San Francisco, in the afternoon, he 
will commonly see, directly abreast of the 
Golden Grate where this wind drives in with its 
greatest power, a pencil of the lead dust shoot- 
ing upwards at an angle of thirty or forty de- 
grees, (which is the aim of the wind preparing 
to leap the second chain of mountains, the 
other side of the bay,) and finally tapering off 
and vanishing, at a mid-air point eight or ten 
miles inland, where the increased heat of the 
atmosphere has taken up the moisture, and re- 
stored its complete transparency. This wind 
is so cold, that one who will sit upon the deck 
of the afternoon steamer passing up the bay, 
will even require his heaviest winter clothing. 
And so rough are the waters of the bay, land- 
locked and narrow as it is, that sea-sickness is a 
kind of regular experience, with such as are 
candidates for that kind of felicity. 

"We return now to the middle strip of the 
great valley where the engine, or rather boiler 
power, that operates the coast wind in a great 
part of its velocity, is located. Here the heat, 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON". 61 

reverberated as in a forge, or oven (whence 
CaiU — fornia) becomes, even in the early spring, 
so much raised that the ground is no longer 
able, by any remaining cold there is in it, to 
condense the clouds, and rain ceases. A little 
further on in the season, there is not cooling in- 
fluence enough left to allow even the phenom- 
ena of cloud, and for weeks together, not a 
cloud will be seen, unless, by chance, the skirt 
of one may just appear now and then, hanging 
over the summit of the western mountains. 
The sun rises, fixing his hot stare on the world, 
and stares through the day. Then he returns 
as in an orrery, and stares through another, in 
exactly the same way. The thermometer will 
go up, not seldom, to 100° or even 110°, and 
judging by what we know of effects here in 
New England, we should suppose that life 
would scarcely be supportable. And yet there 
is much less suffering from heat in this valley 
than with us, for the reason probably that the 
nights are uniformly cool. The thermometer 
goes down regularly with the sun, and one or 
two blankets are wanted for the comfort of the 
night. This cooling of the night is probably 
determined by the fact that the cool sea wind, 
sweeping through the upper air of the valley, 
from the coast mountains on one side, over the 



62 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

mountains and mountain passes of the Sierra 
on the other, is not able to get down to the 
ground of the valley during the day, because 
of the powerfully steaming column of heat that 
rises from it ; but as soon as the sun goes down, 
it drops immediately to the level of the plain, 
bathing it for the night with a kind of perpen- 
dicular sea breeze, that has lost for the time a 
great part of its lateral motion. The conse- 
quence is that no one is greatly debilitated by 
the heat. On the contrary, it is the general 
testimony, that a man can do as much of men- 
tal or bodily labor in this climate, as in any 
other. And it is a good confirmation of this 
opinion, that horses will here maintain a won- 
derful energy, traveling greater distances, com- 
plaining far less of heat, and sustaining their 
spirit a great deal better than with us. It is 
also to be noted that there is no special ten- 
dency to fevers in this hot region, except in 
what is called the tule bottom, a kind of giant 
bulrush region, along the most depressed and 
marshiest portions of the rivers. 

" Passing now to the eastern strip or portion, 
the slope of the Nevada, the heat, except in 
those deep canons where the reverberation 
makes it sometimes even insupportable, la 
qualified in degree, according to the altitude. 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 63 

A gentle west wind, warmer in the lower parts 
or foothills by the heat of the valley, fans it all 
day. At points which are higher, the wind is 
cooler; but here also, on the slope of the Neva- 
da, the nights are always cool in summer, so cool 
that the late and early frosts leave too short a 
space for the ordinary summer crop to mature, 
even where the altitude is not more than 3,000 
or 4,000 feet. Meantime, at the top of the 
Sierra, where the west wind, piling up from 
below, breaks over into Utah, travelers under- 
take to say that in some of the passes it blows 
with such stress as even to polish the rocks, by 
the gravel and sand which it drives before it. 
The day is cloudless on the slope of the Sierra, 
as in the valley ; but on the top there is now 
and then, or once in a year or two, a moderate 
thunder shower. With this exception, as re- 
ferring to a part uninhabitable, thunder is 
scarcely ever heard in California. The prin- 
cipal thunders of California are underground. 
a ^^Q return now to the coast- wise mountain 
region, where the multiplicity and confusion 
of climates is most remarkable. Their variety 
we shall find depends on the courses of the 
wind currents, turned hither and thither by 
the mountains ; partly also on the side any 
given place occupies of its valley or mountain; 



64 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOX. 

and partly on the proximity of the sea. 
Sprinkled in among these mountains, and 
more or less inclosed by them, are valleys, 
large and small, of the highest heauty. But 
a valley in California means something more 
than a scoop, or depression. It means a rich 
land-lake, leveled between the mountains, with 
a sharply defined, picturesque shore, where it 
meets the sides and runs into the indentations 
of the mountains. What is called the Bay of 
San Francisco, is a large salt water lake in the 
middle of a much larger land-lake, sometimes 
called the San Jose valley. It extends south 
of the city forty miles, and northward among 
islands and mountains, about twenty-five more, 
if we include what is called San Pueblo Bay. 
Three beautiful valleys of agricultural country, 
the Petaluma, Sonora, and JN'apa valleys, open 
into this larger valley of the bay, on the north 
end of it, between four mountain barriers, 
having each a short navigable creek or inlet. 
Still farther north is the Russian Biver val- 
ley, opening towards the sea, and the Clear 
Lake valley and region, which is the Switzer- 
land of California. East of the San Jose val- 
ley, too, at the foot of Diabola, and up among 
the mountains, are the large Amador and San 
Ramon valleys, also the little gem of the 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON". 65 

SuSole. iN'ow these valleys, which, if we ex- 
cept the great valley of the two rivers, com- 
prise the plow-land of Middle California, have 
each a climate of its own, and productions that 
correspond. We have only to observe further, 
that the east side of any valley will commonly 
be much warmer than the west ; for the very 
paradoxical reason that the cold coast- wind 
always blows much harder on the side or steep 
slope even, of a mountain, opposite or away 
from the wind, than it does on the side to- 
wards it, reversing all our notions of the shel- 
tering effects of mountain ridges." 
6 



CHAPTER VII. 

During this brief tarry at Los Angelos, Car 
son had not been idle, but entirely without 
thought that his confidence could be deemed 
presumption, arranging his dress with as much 
care as its character permitted, early in the 
morning he mounted his horse — always in ex- 
cellent trim — and rode to the residence of the 
man he had been informed owned the best rancTie 
in the vicinity, and dismounting at the wicket 
gate, entered the yard, which was fenced with 
a finely arranged growth of club cactus ; and 
passing up the gravel walk several rods, be- 
tween an avenue of ^g trees, with an occasional 
patch of green shrubs, and a few flowers, he 
stood at the door of the spacious old Spanish 
mansion, which was built of adobe one story in 
height and nearly a hundred feet in length, its 
roof covered with asphaltum mingled with sand 
— like all tlie houses in Los Angelos, a spring 

of this material existing a little way from the 
(66) 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 67 

town. After waiting a few moments for an 
answer to his summons, made with the huge 
brass knocker, an Indian servant made his ap- 
pearance, and ushered him to an elegantly fur- 
nished room, with several guitars lying about as 
if recently in use. The lordly owner of the 
ranche soon appeared in morning gown and slip- 
pers, the picture of a well to do old time gen- 
tleman, with an air evincing an acquaintance 
with the world of letters and of art, such as 
only travel can produce. 

He asked the name of his stranger guest, as 
Carson approaching addressed him, and at 
once commenced a conversation in English, 
saying with a look of satisfied pleasure, " I ad- 
dress you in your native tongue, which I pre- 
sume is agreeable, though you speak very good 
Spanish ;" to which Carson, much more sur- 
prised to hear his native language so fluently 
spoken, than his host was to be addressed in 
Spanish, replied, 

"It is certainly agreeable to find you can 
give me the information which, as an Ameri- 
can, I seek, in the language my mother taught 
me," and at once they were on terms of easy 
familiarity. 

As it was early morning, his host asked 
Carson to take a cup of cofi*ee with him, and 



68 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

conducting him to the breakfast room, pre- 
sented him to the family — a wife and several 
grown sons and daughters. 

Carson enjoyed the social part of this treat, 
more than the tempting viands with which the 
board was loaded. Though Spanish was the 
language^ most used by the family, all spoke 
English, and a young man from Massachu- 
setts was with them as a tutor to some of the 
younger children. Breakfast over, the host 
invited him to visit the vineyard, which he 
said was hardly in condition to be exhibited, 
as the picking had commenced two weeks be- 
fore. He said his yard, of a thousand varas, 
yielded him more grapes than he could man- 
age to dispose of, though last year he had 
made several butts of wine, and dried five thou- 
sand pounds of raisins. The vines were in the 
form of little trees, so closely had they been 
trimmed, and were still loaded with the purple 
clusters. Tasting them, Carson justly remarked 
that he had never eaten so good a grape. 

" No," said his host, " I think not ; neither 
have I, though I have traveled through Eu- 
rope. The valley of the Rhine, nor of the Ta- 
gus, produces anywhere a grape like ours. I 
think that the Los Angelos grape is fit food 
indeed for angels — is quite equal to the grapes 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 69 

of Eslicol — jovi remember the heavy clusters 
that were found there, so that two men carried 
one between them on a pole resting upon their 
shoulders. See that now," and he drew Car- 
son to a vine whose trunk was six inches 
through, and yet it needed a prop to sustain 
the weight of the two clusters of grapes it 
bore. 

A species of the cactus, called the prickly pear, 
enclosed the vineyard, and this really bore pears, 
or a fruit of light orange color, in the form of 
a pear, but covered with a down of prickles. 
The Indian boy brought a towel, and wiping 
the fruit until it shone, gaA^e to Carson to taste. 
It was sweetish, juicy, and rich, but with less 
of flavor than a pear. Beyond the vineyard 
were groves of fig and orange trees. The figs 
were hardly ripe, being the third crop of the 
season, while the oranges were nearly fit for 
picking. The host said that his oranges were 
better than usual this season, but he did not 
know what he should do with them. He was 
in the habit of shipping them to Santa Bar- 
bara and Monterey, and thence taking some to 
San Jose ; but latterly oranges had been 
brought to Monterey from the Sandwich islands 
by ships in the service of the Hudson Bay 
Company, returning from the China trade to 



70 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

the mouth of the Columbia, which, arriving 
before his were ripe, he found the fruit market 
forestalled. 

" This is the finest country the sun shines 
upon," said he, " and we can live luxuriously 
upon just what will grow on our own farms ; 
but we cannot get rich. Our cattle will only 
bring the value of the hides ; our horses are 
of little value, for there are plenty running 
wild which good huntsmen can take with the 
lasso; and, as for fruit, from which I had 
hoped to realize something, the market is cut 
oif by Yankee competition. I think we shall 
have the Americans with us before many years, 
and for my part I hope we shall. The idea of 
Californians generally, as well as of other Mex 
leans, that they are too shrewd for them, is true 
enough ; but certainly there is plenty of room 
for a large population, and I should prefer 
that the race that has most enterprise, should 
come and cultivate the country with us." 

Carson's youth commanded him to listen, 
rather than to advance his own sentiments; 
but he expressed his pleasure at hearing his 
host compliment the Americans, and said in 
reply, " I have not been an extensive traveler, 
and have chosen the life of a mountaineer, for 
a time certainly ; but since I came to Califor- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 71 

nia, I am half inclined to decide to make this 
my home when I get tired of trapping. 1 like 
the hunt, and have found game exceedingly 
plenty here, but there is no buffalo, and I 
want that. Grive me buffalo, and I would set- 
tle in California." 

He described to his host a buffalo hunt in 
which he engaged with the Sioux Indians, 
before he left his father's home, at fifteen years 
of age, and another later, since he came into 
the mountains. He had hunted buffalo every 
year since he was twelve years old. 

The Don was charmed with the earnestness 
and the frankness, and manifest integrity of 
the youth, and turning his glance upon him, 
with the slightly quizzical expression the face 
a Spaniard so readily assumes, he inquired 
how many buffalo he had ever killed. 

" JN'ot so many as I have deer, because I was 
always in a deer country; but in the eight 
years since I commenced going in the buffalo 
ranges, I must have killed five hundred. The 
hunter does not kill without he wishes to use. 
I was often permitted to take a shot at the 
animals before I was able to help in dressing 
them." 

But Carson felt it might seem like boasting, 



72 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHEK CAKSOX. 

for him to tell his own exploits, and changing 
the theme, remarked, 

"Your horses would make excellent buffalo 
hunters, with the proper training, and I have 
some at camp that I intend shall see buffalo. 
But why do you not deal gently with thera 
when they are first caught, and keep the fire 
they have in the herd? Pardon me, but I 
think in taming your horses, you break their 
spirits." 

" My tutor has said the same, and I too 
have thought so in regard to the Mexican 
style of training our horses. We mount one 
just caught from the drove, and ride him till 
he becomes gentle from exhaustion. The 
French do not train horses in that way, nor 
the English ; I have not been in the United 
States. Our custom is brought from Spain ; 
and it answers well enough with us, where our 
horses go in droves, and when one is used up, 
we turn him out and take up another; but 
when we take this animal again, he is just as 
wild as at the first ; we cannot afford to spend 
time on breaking him when it must be done 
over again directly." 

And so the two hours, which Carson had 
allotted for his visit, passed in easy chat, and 
when he took his leave, his host expressed 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 73 

his thanks for his visit, and promised to re- 
turn it at the camp. 

Carson did not again see his courteous host, 
for early on the following morning, Mr. Young 
found it necessary that he should get his men 
away from Los Angelos as speedily as possi- 
ble. They had been indulging to excess in bad 
liquors, and having none of the best feelings 
towards the Mexicans, many quarrels, some 
ending in bloodshed, had ensued. 

He therefore despatched Carson ahead with 
a few men, promising to follow and overtake 
him at the earliest moment, and waiting an- 
other day, he managed to get his followers in 
a tolerably sober condition, and succeeded, 
though not without much trouble, in getting 
away without the loss of a man, though the 
Mexicans were desperately enraged at the 
death of one of their townsmen, who had been 
killed in a chance fray. In three days he 
overtook Carson, and the party, once more re- 
united, advanced rapidly towards the Colorado 
Hiver, his men working with a heartiness and 
cheerfulness, resulting from a consciousness 
of their misconduct at Los Angelos, which, but 
for the prudent discretion of Young and Car- 
son, might have resulted disastrously to all 
concerned. 



74 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSCN. 

In nine days they were ready to commence 
trapping on the Colorado, and in a short time 
added here to the large stock of furs they had 
brought from California. 

Here while left in charge of the camp, with 
only a few men, Carson found himself suddenly 
confronted by several hundred Indians. They 
entered the camp with the utmost assurance, 
and acted as though they felt the power of 
their numbers. Carson at once suspected that 
all was not right, and attempting to talk with 
them, he soon discovered that, with all their 
sang froid^ each of them carried his weapons 
concealed beneath his garments, and immedi- 
ately ordered them out of camp. Seeing the 
small number of the white men, the Indians 
were not inclined to obey, but chose to wait 
their time and do as they pleased, as they 
were accustomed to do with the Mexicans. 
They soon learned that they were dealing with 
men of different mettle, for Carson was a man 
not to be trifled with. 

His men stood around him, each with his 
rifle resting in the hollow of the arm, ready 
to be dropped to deadly aim on the sign from 
their young commander. Carson addressed 
the old chief in Spanish, (for he had betrayed 
his knowledge of that language,) and warned 







CARSON OOFS AHFVD WITH TIIF P^RTY 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 75 

him that though they were few, they were de- 
termined to sell their lives dearly. The In- 
dians awed, it would seem, by the bold and de- 
fiant language of Carson, and finding that any 
plunder they might acquire, would be pur- 
chased at a heavy sacrifice, sullenly withdrew, 
and left the party to pursue their journey un- 
molested. 

Any appearance of fear would have cost the 
lives of Carson and probably of the whole 
party, but the Indian warriors were too chary 
of their lives to rush into death's door unpro- 
voked, even for the sake of the rich plunder 
they might hope to secure. Carson's cool 
bravery saved the trappers and all their 
efi*ects ; and this first command in an Indian 
engagement is but a picture of his conduct in 
a hundred others, when the battles were with 
weapons other than the tongue. The inten- 
tion of the Indians had been to drive away the 
animals, first causing a stampede, when they 
would become lawful plunder, but they dared 
not undertake it. 

The wily craftiness of the Indians induced 
the necessity for constant vigilance against 
them, and in the school this youth had been 
in all his life, he had shown himself an apt 
scholar. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

While on the Colorado, Young's party (lis* 
covered a company of Indians, (with whom 
they had had a previous skirmish,) as they were 
coming out from Los Angelos, and charging 
suddenly among them, succeeded in taking a 
large herd of cattle from them in the Indians* 
own style. The same week an Indian party 
came past their camp in the night, with a drove 
of a hundred horses, evidently just stolen from 
a Mexican town in Sonora. The trappers, 
with their guns for their pillows, were ready in 
an instant for the onslaught, and ca})tured these 
horses also, the Indians hurrying away for fear 
of the deadly rifle. The next day they selected 
such as they wanted from the herd, choosing of 
course the finest, and turning the rest loose, to 
be taken again by the Indians, or to become 
the wild mustangs that roamed the plains of 
Northern Mexico, ir, droves of tens of thou- 
sands, and which could be captured and tamed 
only by the use of the lasso. 
(76) 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CAESON. 77 

Mr. Young and his party trapped down the 
Colorado and up the Gila with success, then 
crossed to the vicinity of the New Mexican 
copper mines, where they left their furs and 
went to Santa Fe. Having procured there 
license to trade with the Indians about the cop- 
per mines, they returned thither for their furs, 
went back to Santa Fe and disposed of them 
to great advantage. The party disbanded with 
several hundred dollars apiece, which most of 
them expended as sailors do their earnings 
when they come into port. Of course Carson 
was hail fellow well met with them for a time. 
He had not hitherto taken the lesson that all 
have to learn, viz., that the ways of pleasure 
are deceitful paths ; and to resist temptation 
needs a large amount of courage — larger per- 
haps than to encounter any physical danger ; 
at least the moral courage it requires is of a 
higher tone than the physical courage which 
would carry one through a fight with a grizzly 
bear triumphantly ; that the latter assists the 
former ; indeed that the highest moral courage 
must be aided by physical bravery, but that the 
latter may exist entirely independently of the 
former. 

Carson learned during this season of hilarity 
the necessity of saying 'No ! and he did so per- 



78 LIFE OF CHETSTOPHER CARSON-. 

sistently, knowing that if he failed in this he 
would be lost to himself and to everything dear 
in life. He was now twenty-one, and though 
the terrible ordeal of poverty had been nobly 
borne, and he had conquered, the latter or- 
deal of temptation from the sudden possession 
of what was to him a large sum of money, had 
proved for once, too much. And it is well for 
him perhaps it was so ; as it enabled him to 
sow his wild oats in early youth. 

It is not improbable that some of this party 
belonged to the class of Canadians called cour- 
eurs des bois, whose habits Mr. Irving thus de- 
scribes in his Astoria : 

" A new and anomalous class of men gradu- 
ally grew out of this trade. These were called 
cour eurs des hois^ rangers of the woods ; orig- 
inally men who had accompanied the Indians 
in their hunting expeditions, and made them- 
selves acquainted with remote tracts and tribes ; 
and who now became, as it were, pedlers of 
the wilderness. These men would set out from 
Montreal with canoes well stocked with goods, 
with arms and ammunition, and would make 
their way up the mazy and wandering rivers 
that interlace the A^ast forests of the Canadas, 
coasting the most remote lakes, and creating 
new wants and habitudes among the natives. 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 79 

Sometimes they sojourned for months among 
them, assimilating to their tastes and habits 
with the happy facility of Frenchmen ; adopt- 
ing in some degree the Indian dress, and not 
unfrequently taking to themselves Indian 
wives. 

" Twelve, fifteen, eighteen months would often 
elapse without any tidings of them, when they 
would come sweeping their way down the Ot- 
tawa in full glee, their canoes laden down with 
packs of beaver skins. 'Now came their turn 
for revelry and extravagance. " You would be 
amazed," says an old writer already quoted, 
" if you saw how lewd these pedlers are when 
they return ; how they feast and game, and 
how prodigal they are, not only in their clothes, 
but upon their sweethearts. Such of them as 
are married have the wisdom to retire to their 
own houses ; but the bachelors do just as an 
East Indiaman and pirates are wont to do ; for 
they lavish, eat, drink, and play all away as 
long as the goods hold out ; and when these 
are gone, they even sell their embroidery, their 
lace, and their clothes. This done, they are 
forced upon a new voyage for subsistence." 

Many of these coureurs des hois became so 
accustomed to the Indian mode of living, and 
the perfect freedom of the wilderness, that 



80 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOX. 

they lost all relish for civilization, and identi- 
fied themselves with the savages among whom 
they dwelt, or could only be distinguished from 
them by superior licentiousness. 

In the autumn Carson joined another trap- 
ping party under Mr. Fitzpatrick, whom we 
shall has^e frequent occasion to mention here- 
after. They proceeded up the Platte and 
Sweet Water past Goose Creek to the Salmon 
River, where they wintered, like other parties, 
sharing the good will of the Nez Perces In- 
dians, and having the vexations of the Black- 
feet for a constant fear. Mr. Fitzpatrick, less 
daring than Carson, declined sending him to 
punish this tribe for their depredations. 

In the spring they came to Bear river, 
which flows from the north to Salt Lake. 
Carson and four men left Mr. Fitzpatrick here, 
and went ten days to find Captain Gaunt in 
the place called the 'New Park, on the head 
waters of the Arkansas, where they spent the 
trapping season, and wintered. While the 
party were wintering in camp, being robbed 
of some of their horses by a band of sixty 
Crow Indians, Carson, as usual, was appointed 
to lead the party sent in pursuit of the plun- 
derers. AVith only twelve men he took up 
the trail, came upon the Indians in one of 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CAESON. 81 

their ^strongholds, cut loose the animals, which 
were tied within ten feet of the fort of logs in 
which the enemy had taken shelter, attacked 
them, killed five of their warriors, and made 
good his retreat with the recovered horses ; an 
Indian of another tribe who was with the trap- 
pers bringing away a Crow scalp as a tro- 
phy.* 

In the spring, while trapping on the Platte 
River, two men belonging to the party deserted 
and robbed a cache^ or underground deposit of 
furs, which had been made by Captain Gaunt, 
in the neighborhood. Carson, with only one 
comj^anion, went off in pursuit of the thieves, 
who, however, were never heard of afterwards. 

]N"ot finding the plunderers, Carson and his 
companion remained at the old camp on the 
Arkansas, where the cache had been made, 
until they were relieved by a party sent out 
from the United States, with supplies for Cap- 
tain Gaunt's trappers. They were soon after 
joined by a party of Gaunt's men, and started 
to his camp. On their way they had re- 
peated encounters with Indians attempting to 
steal their horses, but easily beat them off and 
saved their property. 

On one occasion when Carson and the other 

* Cutis. Conquest of California and New Mexico. 
6 



82 LIFE OF OHEISTOPHER CARSON. 

trappers were out in search of heaver sign^ they 
came suddenly upon a band of sixty warriors 
well armed and mounted. In the presence of 
such a force their only safety was in flight. 
Amid a shower of bullets from the Indian 
rifles, they made good their escape. Carson 
considered this one of his narrowest escapes. 



CHAPTER IX. 

In the spring of 1832, Mr. Gaunt's party had 
been unsuccessful, and were now upon a stream 
where there was no beaver, therefore Carson 
announced his intention of hunting on his own 
account. Two of his companions joined him, 
and the three for the whole season pursued 
their work successfully, high up in the moun- 
tain streams, while the Indians were down in 
the plains hunting buffalo ; and taking their 
fur to Taos, disposed of them at a remunera- 
tive price. While the two former spent their 
money in the usual way, Carson saved his 
hard earnings which his companions were so 
recklessly throwing away. This self- disci- 
pline, and schooling himself to virtue and tem- 
perance, was not without effort on the part 
of Kit Carson, for he loved the good will and 
kindly civilities of his companions; but he 

knew also that he could not have his cake and 

(83) 



84 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOIf. 

eat it too, and chose to save his money and his 
strength for future use. 

While remaining at Taos, Captain Lee, for- 
merly of the United States army, now a part- 
ner of Bent and St. Yrain, at Bent's Fort, in- 
vited Carson to join an expedition which he 
was arranging. Carson acce]3ted his offer, 
starting in October. Going northward they 
came up with a party of twenty traders and 
trappers, upon a branch of the Green River, 
and all entered winter quarters here together. 

Mr. Robideau had in his employ a Califor- 
nian Indian, very skillful in the chase — whether 
for game or for human prey — very courageous, 
and able to endure the greatest hardships, and 
whose conduct hitherto had won the confi- 
dence of all. This Indian had left clandes- 
tinely, taking with him six of Mr. Robideau's 
most valuable horses, which were worth at 
least twelve hundred dollars. Mr. Robideau, 
determined to recover them if possible, solic- 
ited Carson to pursue and overtake the Indian. 
Kit asked his employer, Mr. Lees', permission 
to serve Mr. Robideau, which was readily 
granted, when he at once prepared himself for 
hard riding and sturdy resistance. 

From a Utah village near he obtained an in- 
telligent and brave young warrior to join him 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 85 

—for Carson's reputation for courage, skill, 
and efficiency, were known to the tribes, and 
many of its braves were attached to him, and 
afterwards proved that they cherished a lasting 
friendship for him. 

For a time the blindness of the trail com- 
pelled them to go slowly, but once sure of its 
direction, they pursued it with the utmost 
speed, down Green river, Carson concluding 
the Indian was directing his course toward 
California. When they had gone a hundred 
miles on their way, the Indian's horse was 
suddenly taken sick. The Indian would not 
consent to continue the pursuit, as Carson sug- 
gested, on foot, and he therefore determined to 
go on alone, and putting spurs to his horse re- 
solved not to return until he had succeeded in 
recovering Mr. Hobideau's property.. With 
practiced eye ever upon the trail, he revolved 
in his mind the expert skill he might need to 
exercise in encountering the wily savage. This 
desperate expedition Carson had boldly entered 
into, not with rashness, but he had accepted it 
as an occasion that demanded the hazard. At 
the distance of thirty miles from where he left 
his Utah companion, he discovered the object 
of his chase. The Indian too had dis- 
covered him, and to prepare himself for the 



86 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

attack, turned to seek a shelter whence he 
might fire and reload without exposure to the 
shot from Carson's rifle — which he had un- 
slung when first he discovered the Indian. 

With his horse at full speed, at the momen: 
the Indian reached his cover, Carson fired wicii 
aim so true that the Indian gave one boiind 
and fell dead beside his horse, while his ^UD 
went ofi* at the same instant. !N'o furthei par 
ticulars of description or speculation can add 
to the interest of this picture. We leav^e it td 
the imagination of the reader, as an illus* 
tration of the daring and fidelity of Kit 
Carson. Collecting the horses, he soon had 
the pleasure, after a few minor difficulties, of 
presenting to Mr. Robideau, the six animals 
he had lost, in as good condition as when itiey 
were stolen, and of announcing tv him the t'act 
that there lived one less rogue. 

Soon after Carson's return to camp, aome 
trappers brought them news that Messrs, i?'itz- 
patrick and Bridger were camped fifteen miles 
from them. Captain Lee and Carson at once 
concluded that to them they might sell their 
goods. They started for their camp and were 
as successful as they had noped, for rhey sold 
their whole stock of goods to this party^ snid 
took their pay in furs. Their contract being 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 87 

now completed, Carson joined Mr. Fitzpatrick 
again in a trapping expedition, but did not 
remain long with him, because the party was 
too large to make it pay, or even to work har- 
moniously together. With three men whom 
he chose from the many who wished to join 
him, Carson again commenced trapping on his 
own account. They trapped all summer on 
the Laramie, with unusual success. It was 
while Carson was out on this tramp that he had 
the adventure with the grizzly bears,* which he 
considered the most perilous that he ever 
passed through. He had gone out from the 
camp on foot to shoot game for supper, and 
had just brought down an elk, when two griz- 
zly bears came suddenly upon him. His rifle 
being empty, there was no way of escape from 
instant death but to run with his utmost speed 
for the nearest tree. He reached a sapling 
with the bears just at his heels. Cutting off 
a limb of the tree with his knife, he used that 
as his only weapon of defence. When the 
bears climbed so as nearly to reach him, he 
gave them smart raps on the nosO; which sent 
them away growling ; but when the pain ceased 
they would return again only to have the 
raps repeated. In this way nearly the whole 

* Pet-ers. 



88 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOK. 

night was spent, when finally the bears became 
discouraged, and retired from the contest. 
Waiting until they were well out of sight, 
Carson descended from his unenviable posi- 
tion, and made the best of his way into camp, 
which he reached about daylight. The elk 
had been devoured by wolves before it could 
be found, and his three companions were only 
too glad to see him, to be troubled about 
breakfasting on beaver, as they had supped 
the night before; for trappers in camp en- 
gaged in their business had this resort for 
food when all others failed. 

Laramie river flows into the JN'orth Platte, 
upon the south side. The country through 
which it flows is open, yet the stream is bordered 
with a variety of shrubbery, and in many spots 
the Cottonwood grows luxuriantly, and for this 
reason, the locality is favorable for the grizzly 
bear. 

Baird says of this bear : " While the black 
bear is the bear of the forest, the gTizzly is the 
bear of the chapparal, the latter choosing an 
open country, whether plain or mountain, whose 
surface is covered with dense thickets of man- 
zanita or shrub oak, which furnish him with his 
favorite food, and clumps of service bushes, and 
low cherry; and whose streams are lined with 




"WHEN THE BEARS CLIMBED SO NEAR AS TO REACH HIM, 
HE GAVE THEM SMART RAPS ON THE NOSE." 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON". 89 

tangled thickets of low grape vine and wild 
plumb." The grizzly is not so good at climb- 
ing as the black bear, and can best manage by 
resting upon his haunches and mounting with 
bis fore arms upon the bushes that he cannot 
pull over, to gather the berries, of which he is 
very fond. 

" Only in a condition of hunger will he at- 
tack a man unprovoked, but when he does, 
the energy with which he fights, prevents the 
Indians from seeking the sport of a hunt for 
the grizzly bear. He is monarch of the plain, 
with only their opposition, and has departed 
only before the rifle of the white hunter. An 
Indian, who would, alone, undertake to con- 
quer a dozen braves of another tribe, would 
shrink from attacking a grizzly bear ; and to 
have killed one, furnishes a story for a life 
time, and gives a reputation that descends to 
posterity. The mounted hunter can rarely 
bring his horse to approach him near enough 
for a shot." 

Soon after his encounter with the bears, 
Carson and his men were rejoiced by the arri- 
val of Capt. Bridger, so long a mountaineer of 
note, and with him his whole band. Carson 
and his three companions joined with them^ 
and were safe ; and now for the first time he 



90 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 

attended the summer rendezyous of trappers 
on the Grreen River, where they assembled for 
the disposal of their furs, and the purchase of 
such outfit as they needed. 

Carson for the Fall hunt joined a company 
of fifty, and went to the country of the Black- 
feet, at the head waters of the Missouri ; but 
the Indians were so numerous, and so determ- 
ined upon hostility, that a white man could not 
leave his camp without danger of being shot 
down ; therefore, quitting the Blackfeet coun- 
try, they camped on the Big Snake River for 
winter quarters. 

During the winter months, the Blackfeet had 
in the night run off eighteen of their horses, 
and Kit Carson, with eleven men, was sent to 
recover them, and chastise their temerity. 
They rode fifty miles through the snow before 
coming up with the Indians, and instantly 
made an attempt to recover their animals, 
which were loose and quietly grazing. 

The Indians, wearing snow shoes, had the 
advantage, and Carson readily granted the 
parley they asked. One man from each party 
advanced, and between the contending ranks 
had a talk. The Indians informed them that 
they supposed they had been robbing the 
Snake Indians, and did not desire to steal from 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON'. 91 

ivliite men. Of course this tale was false, and 
Carson asked why they did not lay down their 
arms and ask for a smoke, but to this they had 
no reply to make. However, both parties laid 
aside their weapons and prepared for the 
smoke ; and the lighted calumet was puffed by 
every one of the savages and the whites alter- 
nately, and the head men of the savages made 
several long non-committal speeches, to which, 
in reply, the trappers came directly to the 
point, and said they would hear nothing of 
conciliation from them until their property was 
returned. 

After much talk, the Indians brought in ^ve 
of the poorest horses. The whites at once 
started for their guns, which the Indians did 
at the same time, and the fight at once com- 
menced. Carson and a comrade named Mark- 
land having seized their rifles first, were at the 
lead, and selected for their mark two Indians 
who were near each other and behind different 
trees ; but as Kit was about to fire, he per- 
ceived Markland's antagonist aiming at him 
with death-like precision, while Markland had 
not noticed him, and on the instant, neglecting 
his own adversary, he sent a bullet through the 
heart of the other savage, but at the moment 
saw that his own enemy's rifle was aimed at 



92 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

his breast. He was not quite quick enougli to 
dodge the ball, and it struck the side of his 
neck, and passed through his shoulder, shat- 
tering the bone. 

Carson was thenceforward only a spectator 
of the fight, which continued until night, when 
both parties retired from the field of battle and 
went into camp. 

Carson's wound was very painful, and bled 
freely, till the cold checked the flow of blood. 
They dared not light a fire, and in the cold and 
darkness, Carson uttered not a word of com- 
plaint, nor did even a groan escape him. His 
companions were earnesL in their sympathy, 
but he was too brave to need it, or to allow his 
wound to influence the course they should pur- 
sue. In a council of war which they held, it 
was decided that, as they had slain several 
Indians, and had themselves only one wounded, 
they had best return to camp, as they were in 
unfit condition to continue the pursuit. Ar- 
riving at camp, another council was held, at 
which it was decided to send thirty men under 
Capt. Bridger, to pursue and chastise these 
Blackfeet thieves. This party followed the 
Indian trail several days, but finally returned, 
concluding it was useless to search further, as 
they had failed to overtake them. 



CHAPTER X. 

The Spring hunt opened on the Green 
river, and continuing there a while, the party 
went to the Big Snake; and after traj)ping 
with extraordinary success for a few weeks, 
returned to the Summer rendezvous, held 
again upon the Green Riv^er. Meantime Car- 
son had recovered from his wound. 

An unusually large number of trappers and 
traders, with great numbers from the neighbor- 
ing Indian tribes, assembled at this rendezvous, 
made up of Canadians, Frenchmen, Dutchmen, 
Spaniards, and many a backwoodsman, who 
had lived upon the borders, perhaps, for three 
generations, removing when a neighbor came 
within ten miles, because near neighbors 
were a nuisance to him. Let us see the 
parties as they come in, the leader, or the one 
to whom fitness accords this position, having 
selected the spot for the camp, so remote from 
every other, as to have plenty of grass about it 



94 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

for the animals of the party. Perhaps a tent 
is spread, at least, everything is put m proper 
order, according to the notions and the tastes 
of the men who make up the party ; for the 
camp is the home of its members, and here 
they will receive visitors, and exchange cour 
tesies. 

The party or parties that have made the 
special arrangements for the rendezvous — tra- 
ders with a full supply of goods — have spread 
a large tent in a central sj)ot of the general 
encampment, where the w^hole company, save 
those detained at each camp in charge of the 
animals belonging to it, will assemble, at cer- 
tain hours each day, the time upon which the 
sales are announced to take place, and the ex- 
changes commence. 

The several parties arriving first, have been 
obliged to wait until all expected for the sea- 
son have arrived, because there is a feeling of 
honor as well as a care for competition, that 
compels the custom. The traders take furs or 
money for their goods, which bring prices that 
seem fabulous to those unaccustomed to the 
sight or stories of mountain life. The charge, 
of course, is made upon the ground of the ex- 
pense and risk of bringing goods eight hun- 
dred and a thousand miles into the wilderness, 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSO^-. 95 

from the nearest points in western Missouri 
and St. Louis. 

Irving opens his Astoria with the following : 
" Two leading objects of commercial gain, have 
given birth to wide daring and enterprise in 
the early history of the Americas ; the pre- 
cious metals of the South and the rich peltries 
of the JN'orth." When he wrote this, it was true 
of the localities he named — the gold was not 
yet an attraction, except in the south, and 
only the British Fur Company in Canada had 
become an object of history in this branch of 
trade. He says, " While the fiery and mag- 
nificent Spaniard, influenced with the mania 
for gold, has extended his discoveries and con- 
quests over those brilliant countries, scorched 
by the ardent sun of the tropics, the adroit 
Frenchman, and the cool and calculating Bri- 
ton, have pursued the less splendid, but no 
less lucrative, traffic in furs, amidst the hyper- 
borean regions of the Canadas, until they ad- 
vanced even within the Artie Circle. 

" These two pursuits have thus, in a man- 
ner, been the pioneers and precursors of civil- 
ization. Without pausing on the borders, 
they have penetrated at once, in defiance of 
difficulties and dangers, to the heart of savage 
countries ; laying open the hidden secrets of 



90 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOT?. 

the wilderness ; leading the way to remote 
regions of beauty and fertility, that might 
have remained unexjDlored for ages, and beck- 
oning after them the slow and pausing steps 
of agriculture and civilization. It was the fur 
trade, in fact, that gave early sustenance and 
vitality to the great Canadian provinces. 

"Being destitute of the precious metals, 
they were for a long time neglected b}^ the 
parent country. The French adventurers, 
however, who had settled on the banks of the 
St. Lawrence, soon found that in the rich pel- 
tries of the interior, they had sources of wealth 
that might almost rival the mines of Mexico 
and Peru." The Indians, as yet unacquainted 
with the artificial value given to some descrip- 
tions of furs, in civilized life, brought quanti- 
ties of the most precious kinds and bartered 
them away for European trinkets and cheap 
commodities. Immense profits were thus 
made by the early traders, and the traffic was 
pursued with avidity. 

" As the valuable furs became scarce in the 
neighborhood of the settlements, the Indians 
of the vicinity were stimulated to take a wider 
range in their hunting expeditions ; they were 
generally accompanied on these expeditions by 
some of the traders or their dependants, who 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 97 

shared in the toils and perils of the chase, and at 
the same time, made themselves acquainted with 
the best hunting grounds, and with the remote 
tribes whom they encouraged to bring ]Deltries 
to the settlements. In this way the trade aug- 
mented, and was drawn from remote quarters 
to Montreal. Every now and then a large 
body of Ottawas, Hurons, and other tribes who 
hunted the countries bordering on the great 
lakes, would come down in a squadron of light 
canoes, laden with beaver skins and other 
spoils of the year's hunting. The canoes 
would be unladen, taken on shore, and their 
contents disposed in order. A camp of birch- 
bark would be pitched outside of the town, 
and a kind of primitive fair opened with that 
grave ceremonial so dear to the Indians. 

^' J^ow would ensue a brisk traffic with the 
merchants, and all Montreal would be alive 
with naked Indians, running from shop to 
shop, bargaining for arms, kettles, knives, 
axes, blankets, bright-colored cloths, and other 
articles of use or fancy ; upon all which, the 
merchants were sure to clear two hundred per 
cent. 

"• Their wants and caprices being supplied, 
they would take leave, strike their tents, 
7 



98 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

launch their canoes, and ply their way up the 
Ottawa to the lakes." 

Later, the French traders, couriers des bois, 
penetrated the remote forests, carrying such 
goods as the Indians required, and held ren- 
dezvous among them, on a smaller scale, but 
similar to the one Carson had attended, so far 
as the Indian trade was concerned. But the 
Yankee element of character preponderated 
among the traders and trappers from the 
States ; besides the greater difficulty and ex- 
pense necessarily incurred to reach the hunt- 
ing grounds by land than in canoe, called into 
the work only men of energy and higher skill 
than the employees, mostly French, in the ser- 
vice of the Hudson Bay Fur Company, and a 
score of smaller parties, each owning no author- 
ity outside itself, adopted the plan of these sum- 
mer encampments, during the season when the 
fur of the beaver and the otter was not good, as 
an arrangement for mutual convenience ; and 
the Indians of this more southern section 
availed themselves of the occasion, for their 
own pleasure and profit, and to the advantage 
and satisfaction of the traders, whose prices 
ruled high in proportion to the difficulty of 
transit, as well as the monopoly in their hands 
of the articles deemed necessary to the trap- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOI?. 99 

per's dress, culinary establishment, and outfit. 
These consisted of a woolen shirt, a sash or 
belt, and with some stockings, coffee, and 
black pepper, and salt, unless he could sup- 
ply himself from the licks the buffalo visits ; 
with tin kettle, and cup, and frying pan ; the 
accoutrements of the horse, saddle and pack- 
saddle, bridle, spurs, and horse-shoes; with ma- 
terial for bait ; and last, but not least, tobacco, 
which if he did not use, he carried to give to 
the Indians — made up not only the neces- 
saries, but the luxuries which the Indian and 
the white man indulged in, and for which, at 
such times, they paid their money or their 
furs. 

Perhaps the trapper took an Indian wife, 
and then she must be made fine with dress, 
denoting the dignity of her position as wife of 
a white man, and presents must be given to 
the friends of his bride. This was usually an 
expensive luxury, but indulged in most fre 
quently by the French and Canadian trappers, 
many of whom are now living quietly upon 
their farms in Oregon and California, and the 
numer:)us valleys of the West. Indeed we 
might give the names of many a mountain 
ranger, and pioneer of note, first a trapper, 
who still lives surrounded by his Indian wife 



100 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSOTT. 

and their children, and finds himself thus con- 
nected with this people, having their utmost 
confidence, chosen the chief of his tribe, and 
able to care for them as no one not in such as- 
sociation could. 

At almost any point upon Green River the 
grass upon the bottom lands is sufficient for a 
night's encampment for a small party ; but at 
the place selected for the rendezvous, in the 
space of two or three miles upon either side of 
the river, the bottom spreads out in a broad 
prairie, and the luxuriant growth of grass, 
with the country open all about it, made the 
soot desirable for a large encampment. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Early in the summer the grass is green, 
but later it is hay made naturally, root and 
branch dried on the ground — there is no sod — 
and this, though less agreeable, is more nutri- 
tious for the animals than fresh grass. 

A scattered growth of fine old trees fur- 
nishes shade at every camp, and immediately 
about the great tent they afibrd protection from 
the sun to parties of card players, or a " Gro- 
cery stand," at which the principal article of 
sale is " whiskey by the glass ;" and perhaps, 
further on is a monte table, parties from sev- 
eral Indian tribes, and the pioneer of semi-civ- 
ilization — the back-woodsman — has come in 
" with his traps," a few bags of flour, and pos- 
sibly some cheese and butter, and the never 
failing cask of whiskey. Perhaps his wagon 
is the grocery stand, to which we have just al- 
iuded. Without extenuation, these encamp- 
ments were grand occasions of which a few de- 

(101) 



102 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

scriplions may be found written at the time by 
men of science and intellectual culture, like 
Sir Wm. Stewart, who traveled upon these 
plains for pleasure, or the Rev. Samuel 
Parker, who happened at a Green River ren 
dezvous, in 1835, while on his way to the Co- 
lumbia River, under the auspices of the Amer- 
ican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
sions. This was long before Brigham Young 
came West — before his scheme of religious 
colonization had its birth. 

There is now — ^has been for years — a trading 
post where a Canadian Frenchman and an 
American partner, with Indian wives, have 
provided entertainment or furnished supplies 
to emigrants and Indians. It is near the 
Green River crossing, on the road from the 
South Pass to great Salt Lake City, via Fort 
Bridger. 

Amid the motley company it might be ex- 
pected that quarrels would arise, and disor- 
derly conduct, growing out of the feuds among 
the tribes of Indians. These were kept in 
abeyance as much as possible, and already 
Carson's popularity with them enabled him 
to act the part of peace-maker between 
them and the quarrelsome whites, as well 
as between each other, for many of them 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 103 

recognized him as the brave who had led 
excursions, whose success they had felt and 
suffered, and even though leader of victorious 
parties against themselves, they admired his 
prowess still ; for the party of Blackfeet came 
to the rendezvous under the protection of the 
white flag, and for the time, no one more truly 
buried the hatchet than Carson, though just 
recovered from a wound given by a party of 
that tribe, which had nearly cost him his life, 
and of which we have written in a previous 
chapter. 

There was belonging to one of the trapping 
parties a Frenchman by the name of Shuman, 
known at the rendezvous as " the big bully of 
the mountains," exceedingly annoying on ac- 
count of his boasts and taunts, a constant ex- 
citer of tumult and disorder, especially among 
the Indians. Bad enough at any time, with 
the means now for intoxication, he was even 
more dangerous. 

The habits of the mountaineers, without 
law save such as the exigency of the moment 
demanded, required a firm, steady hand to rule. 
Carson had feared the results of this man's 
lawlessness, and had often desired to be rid of 
him, but he had not as yet found the proper 
opportunity. The mischiefs he committed grew 



104 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

worse and worse, and yet for the sake of peare 
they were borne unresistingly. At length an 
opportunity offered to try his courage. One 
day Shuman, boasting of his exjoloits, was par- 
ticularly insolent and insulting toward all 
Americans, whom he described as only fit to 
be whipped with switches. Carson was in the 
crowd, and immediately stepped forward, say- 
ing, " I am an American, the most inconsider- 
able one among them, but if you wdsh to die, T 
w^ill accept your challenge." 

Shuman defied him. He was sitting upon 
his horse, with his loaded rifle in his hand. 
Carson leaped upon his horse with a loaded 
pistol, and both rushed into close combat. 
They fired, almost at the same moment, but 
Carson an instant before his boasting antag- 
onist. Their horses' heads touched, Shuman's 
ball just grazing Carson's cheek, near the left 
eye, and cutting off some locks of his hair. Car- 
son's ball entered Shuman's hand, came out at 
the wrist, and passed through his arm above the 
elbow. The bully begged for his life, and it 
was spared ; and from that time forward, 
Americans were no more insulted by him. 

If, as in other duels, we were to go back to 
remoter causes, and find in this too, the de- 
fence of woman — a Blackfoot beauty — ^whom 




eARSOX WAS IN THE CROWD, AND IMMEDIATELY STEPPED 
FORWARD SAYING, "I AM AN AMERICAN." 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 105 

Sliumaii had determined to abuse, wliicli Car- 
son's interference only had prevented, for the 
sake of truth, of honor, and virtue, as against 
insolence, falsehood, and treachery, although 
the girl did belong to a tribe that was treach- 
erous ; we shall be but giving a point to the 
story that it needs for completeness, and show 
Carson in the exalted manliness and fidelity of 
his character. 

The trappers made arrangements at the ren- 
dezvous for the fall hunt ; and the party who 
were so fortunate as to secure Carson's ser- 
vices, went to the Yellow-stone River, in the 
Blackfeet country, but met with no success. 
Crossing through the Crows' country to the 
Big Horn River, they met the party of Black- 
feet returning from Green River. Carson held 
a parley with them, as was his custom when- 
ever it was safe to go to an Indian camp. He 
told them he had seen none of their people, 
and that the tomahawk was buried if they 
were faithful to him. "But," said he, "the 
CrowiS are my friends, and while I am with 
them, they must be yours." 

On the Big Horn, too, their success was no 
better, and Carson did not meet his Crow 
friends. On the Big Snake, too, which they 
next visited, the result was the same. 



106 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOX. 

They here met a party from the Hudson 
Bay Company, led by a Mr. McCoy. Carson 
and five of his companions accepted the offer 
he made them, and went with him to the 
Humboklt river, trapping with little suc- 
cess from its source to the desert where it 
loses itself, and where the termini of several 
other large rivers are all within a day's ride, 
according to the statement of residents at this 
point. Capt. McCoy said to Carson, as he and 
two of the company started off upon the de- 
sert, 

^' Do not be gone longer than to-morrow 
night, and if you strike a stream where there 
is beaver — there must be water between here 
and those snow mountains — we will trap a few 
days longer." 

On they rode over the artemisia plain till 
the lake was out of view from an eminence 
which Carson climbed ; then struck a tract of 
country entirely destitute of every sign of ani- 
mal or vegetable life, with surface as smooth 
as the floor for miles in extent, then broken 
by a ridge a few feet high, like the rim to a 
lake, whose bottom they had passed, to plunge 
immediately upon another like it, with per- 
haps a white and glistening crystalization 
spread thinly over it. 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 107 

Carson knew he must be upon the celebrated 
Mud Lakes of which he had heard, and of 
which he had seen miniature specimens further 
east. Over these lake bottoms of earth, that 
broken, seemed like mingled sand and ashes, 
but which bore the tread of their horses, and 
over which they seemed to fly rather than to 
step, so fragrant and exhilarating was the at- 
mosphere, they traveled thirty miles, then 
struck the artemisia plains again, only there 
was less of even this worthless production for 
the next ten miles than he had seen before for 
long a distance. 

Through a heavy sand, the weary horses 
plod, for they had come forty or fifty miles 
beneath a burning sun without food and with- 
out water. On they ride, for rest and refresh- 
ment to themselves was not to be thought of till 
they have it for the animals. The river is 
gained ! a broad, deep current of water, 
muddy like that of the Platte, supplies the 
moisture to the trees, whose tops ascend only 
a feAV feet above the desert level, and whose 
trunks rise from green meadows but little 
above the surface of the water. The bottom 
lands are narrow, and the abrupt bank de- 
scends to the water perpendicularly twenty 
feet or more, seemingly of clayey earth, so soft, 



108 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

the water constantly wore upon it, and evi- 
dently the river channel was settling, as the 
years advanced. There were no signs of bea- 
ver, and, from the nature of the banks, there 
^,ould be none, unless high up on the stream. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Capt. McCoy had calculated that he would 
soon find game in the country through which 
his route lay, and therefore he had turned over 
to Carson, and the division of the party under 
his command, nearly all the food which was 
left, but this was insufficient to give them full 
meals for more than three days. Their pros- 
pect was a dreary one indeed, for at the earlier 
season of coming down the river, they had 
not half enough to eat, even with the few bea- 
ver they had taken, to add to the supply, 
and even this was now denied them. And now, 
that the reader may understand Carson's posi- 
tion, we invite him to enjoy with us a few of 
the incidents passed through, and views ob- 
served in our passage up this river, which the 
untraveled eastern man would find so entirely 
new, and the man of travel and of letters would 
find so full of interest, as did the man whose 

name the river bears, for it was named by 

(109) 



110 LIFE OF CHKISTOPHER CARSON. 

Fremont, after Carson, whom he had learned 
to love and respect, long before he reached it. 
We shall speak especially of the features of 
this country, common to so much that lies be- 
tween the civilizations of the Atlantic and the 
Pacific slopes, though the latter was not a 
civilization ; and when from the desert Carson 
gazed with admiration at the snow mountains, 
he surmised, as he afterwards realized through 
hunger, cold, danger, and suifering, that this 
was the chain of mountains which separated 
him from California. 

At the station-house, upon the lake, called 
the Sink of the Humboldt, we were told that 
the Humboldt did not connect with this lake, 
except in the spring season, after the rains ; 
and that for the last two years it had not been 
connected even at that time ; and that in the 
autumn one could pass between the lake and 
the limit of the marsh in which the river loses 
itself, upon dry ground ; and that the sinks, 
or the margins of the lakes or marshes in 
which the Carson, the Walker, and the Susan 
Rivers, neither of them less than a hundred 
miles in length, and some of them several 
hundred, in the wet season empty or lose 
themselves, were all within the limit of a sin- 
gle day's ride, and in the direct vicinity of the 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. Ill 

desert upon which the reader last saw Car- 
son. 

It was the evening of the second of July, 
during a rain storm, (an unusual occurrence at 
this season of the year, no traveler having 
ever reported a similar one so far as we had 
heard,) that, weary, and wet, and cold, we 
found our way in the dark to this river in the 
wilderness. The house of the traders at the 
sink was made of logs, with two rooms — the 
logs having been drawn from the mountains, 
forty miles distant. There was no timber in 
sight, and nothing that was green except some 
grass about the lake, which we were told was 
poison, and on examining, we found it en- 
crusted with a crystalization of potash, left on 
it by the subsiding water in which the grass 
had started. 

During the wet season, the water of the lake 
overflows its banks, and the banks of the river 
are also overflowed, while the water standing 
upon the surface of the ground is strongly 
impregnated with potash, not only near the 
sink, but far up the stream, nearly to its 
source, the same cause existing, though only in 
occasional spots is it exhibited to the same de- 
gree as about the lake. It is not improbable 
that some immense coal formation might have 



112 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 

been consumed here in some remote past age, 
though that is a matter for more scientific ex- 
amination than becomes this work. 

But, to leave speculation ; the occupants of 
the station, whilom trappers in the mountains, 
furnished barley for our animals, and we 
might have purchased coffee, or a rusty gun, 
or bad whiskey, but little else, for their regu- 
lar supplies for the emigrants who were soon 
expected to arrive, had not yet come in. The 
parties bound east had passed, and the Mor- 
mons, with their herds of cattle for the Cali- 
fornia markets, had been met beyond the 
desert. A party of Pah Utah or Piete In- 
dians, a tribe of Diggers, were hanging about 
the encampment, and possibly had caused the 
stampede of the Mormon oxen, which one of 
their herdsmen had reported to us as occurring 
here. The traders on the plains are charged 
with conniving at such expeditions of the In- 
dians, and of sharing with them the plunder. 
These traders may not have been privy to any 
thing of the kind, but certain it is they ahvays 
stood ready to purchase the worn out stock of 
the overland emigrants, much of which is 
worthless to cross the desert, after the prior 
fifteen hundred miles of travel. 

This is made a lucrative business, as will be 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 113 

readily imagined, when the number of animals 
driven over is taken into consideration, which 
has amounted to a hundred thousand annually, 
by this route, during several of the years since 
the quest for gold. 

The traders said they had twenty-five hun- 
dred horses and as many oxen, in charge of 
herdsmen in a mountain valley. Shrewd men 
they were, one of them with an eye we would 
not warrant to look out from a kindly soul. 

Miserable wretches were these Humboldt 
Diggers, with scarcely a trace of humanity in 
their composition, for they have not improved 
since Carson first met them, many years ago. 
The old chief was delighted with a lump of 
sugar, which one of our party gave him. He 
wore a long coat made of rabbit skins, warm 
and durable, strips of the skin with the hair 
out being wound around a deerskin thong, 
and these rolls woven into a garment, but the 
rest of the party were nearly naked. 

Passing Lassen's meadows where the party 
lunched at a spring, indicated, as we ap- 
proached, by a growth of willows, and striking 
upon the artemisia plain that constitutes the 
larger portion of the river valley, when about 
fifty miles from the station, we left the road by 
a blind trail, and approached the river, de- 
8 



114 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 

scending to the bottom land by a precipitous 
bluff thirty feet in height. The mountains 
approached close on the opposite side of the 
river, probably a mile distant, and enclosed us 
'n a semi -circle, while the bluff was lined with 
a scattered growth of alders. 

It rained, was raining violently when we 
halted, and stretching a rope from alder to 
alder, with a blanket thrown over it, we thus 
made a tent, and established ourselves cosily 
to spend here the nation's Sabbath-day, the 
4th of July. 

The rain turned into snow towards evening, 
and covered the mountains- to their base, but 
melting as it fell where we were encamped, 
and with the cooing of the doves which filled 
the alders, the croaking of the frogs in the 
marsh next the river, and the patter of the 
rain upon the bushes, we had other music — 
nature's deep bass — in a constant roaring 
sound, like that of old ocean at full tide on a 
sand beach of the open coast of the Pacific ; or 
like the sound of Niagara, heard half a mile 
away, but there was no discoverable cause. 

Groing a mile up and down the river from 
the camp — if there is up and down to a dead 
river — we still heard the sound, the same in 
tone and power. Our Wyandotte — a member 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 115 

of the party who had crossed the plains with 
Col. Fremont — suggested that it was "the 
Humboldt sinking." 

All the day of the 4th of July we rested 
here, with our animals in clover, amid the 
snow which reached even to the foot of the 
mountains opposite, and the dirge played for 
us by the unseen hand. It was a quiet, still 
sweetly sad day — pleasant in memory, and 
such an one as we shall never spend again — so 
far from civilized humanity, and in a place so 
remote from human footsteps, it seemed a nat- 
ural wonder which had never been properly 
examined and explained. 

Sooner than the old trappers anticipated, 
will the Humboldt be lined with farms, and 
the little mountain valleys filled with grazing 
herds, and the church spire and the cross upon 
an unassuming building in the centre of a six 
mile square prairie, indicate the advance of 
civilization. Yet, except in the mud -lake lo- 
calities, there is no tract of country that can 
well be more unpromising than that about the 
Humboldt; and not many years will elapse 
before science will make plain and palpable 
that wonder of the world, " the sinking of the 
Humboldt" 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Through the country we have thus briefly 
described, Carson and his men had trapped, 
taking some small game, intending to return 
late in the season when the cold of this high 
altitude, with the sun low, was becoming terri- 
bly severe, while the grass was dead, and the 
birds of passage had all departed. Their 
prospects were cheerless and unpromising, nor 
were they at all improved after they left the 
Humboldt ; for their route lay through an arte- 
misia desert, varied only by an occasional lit- 
tle valley, where springs of water in the early 
season had induced the growth of grass. 

On reaching Goose Creek, they found it fro- 
zen, so that there was no possibility of finding 
even roots, to satisfy their hunger. Though 
to-day this is the trail of California emigration, 
with plenty of grass, for a great portion of the 

nray, in its season ; now all was desolate, and 
(116) 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 117 

inured as they were to hardship, Carson's men 
had never before suffered so much from hun- 
ger, nor did their animals fare much better. 
Capt. McCoy had taken with him all not 
needed by Carson's party, because he could 
give them food, and it was fortunate for them 
he had adopted this course. 

The magnificent mountain scenery on the 
route could scarcely excite admiration or re- 
mark from this company of hungry, toil-worn 
men ; even that unique exhibition of nature's 
improvised ideality, done in stone — ^pyramid 
circle — with its pagodas, temples, obelisks, 
and altars, within a curiously wrought rock 
wall, they only wished were the adobe walls 
and houses of Fort Hall. However, nothing 
daunted by the dreary prospect before them, 
they here bled their horses, and drank the 
precious draught, well knowing they were 
taking the wind from the sails upon which 
they must rely to waft them into port, if they 
ever reached it. 

The next day, they were meditating the 
slaughter of one of their horses, when a partj« 
of Snake Indians fortunately came in sight 
They had been out on the war trail, and re- 
turning, had little food, but Carson managed 
to purchase a fat horse, which they killed at 



118 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

once, and thus managed to live luxuriously 
till tliey reached the fort, able now to walk 
and give the horses the advantage of their 
diet. 

Epicureans of civilization, when the squeam- 
ishness of an appetite, perverted by too deli- 
cate fare, is invited to such a repast, may rest 
assured that they know not the satisfaction 
such fare afforded to Kit Carson and his party. 
Horse beef was sweeter food to these starving 
men, than epicures had ever tasted. 

After recruiting for a few days at the fort, 
and learning that there were large herds of 
the game, which they gloried most in hunting, 
the buffalo, near by, Carson and his party 
started for the stream on which they could be 
found, and were not long in discovering a large 
herd of fine fat buffalo. Stretching lines on 
which to hang the strips, they killed, and 
dressed, and cut ; and soon had dried all the 
meat their animals could carry, when they re- 
turned to the fort. 

Three days before reaching the fort, a party 
of Blackfeet Indians were again upon their 
trail, and watching for their return. 

On the third morning after their arrival, just 
as day dawned, two of the Indians came past 
Uieir camp to the corral of the fort in which 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 119 

their animals were confined, let down the bars 
and drove them all away; the sentinel think- 
ing the Indians were men of his party who 
had come to relieve his watch, had gone into 
camp and was soundly sleeping before the ani- 
mals were missed. By this time the Indians 
had driven them many miles away, and as a 
similar ruse had been played upon the people 
at the fort a few days before, by which all their 
animals were run off, there was no possibility 
of giving chase. 

Of course there was now no alternative but 
to wait the return of Capt. McCoy from Walla 
Walla, which he did in about four weeks, 
bringing animals enough to supply Carson and 
his party, besides, the men at the fort, which 
had been obtained of the Kiowas, or Kaious 
Indians, in Oregon. These Indians range be- 
tween the Cascade and the Rocky Mountains, 
in what is now the eastern portion of Wash- 
ington and Oregon Territories, living by the 
chase, and owning immense herds of horses, 
of which the chief of this tribe owned ten thou- 
sand. In this same locality the Indian bands 
reported by the parties of trappers in the 
American Fur Company, had abundance of 
horses, with which they hunted deer, " ring- 
ing or surrounding them, and running them 



120 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHEE CAESOTT. 

down in a circle." But wliile antelope, and 
elk, and deer, as well as beaver, were abun- 
dant, tbeir locality was not frequented by the 
buffalo, its ranges being further toward the 
south and west. 

Many suppose that buffalo never existed west 
of the Rocky Mountains ; but to attem]3t a cor- 
rection of this impression with our readers, is 
no longer necessary, as we have seen Carson kill- 
ing them on the Salmon River, on the Green 
River, and lastly, in the valley of a stream 
that flows into the Salmon. 

From Baird's General Repository, published 
in 1857, we quote, 

" It will perha]3s excite surprise that I in- 
clude the buffalo in the fauna of the Pacific 
States, as it is common to imagine that the 
buffalo has always been confined to the At- 
lantic slopes, because it does not now extend 
beyond the Rocky mountains. This is not 
true. They once abounded on the Pacific." 

This animal has not been found in Califor- 
nia nor in Oregon, west of the Cascade moun- 
tains, within the present generation of men, 
and the limit of its ranges, narrowing every 
year, is now far this side of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. Really a wild animal, incapable of 
being domesticated, as the country is more and 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 121 

more traversed, he retires — is killed by thous- 
ands by the hunter — and seems destined, as 
really as the Indian race, to become extinct. 
Could either be induced to adopt the modes of 
life which residence among the races of civil- 
ized men requires, their existence might bo 
prolonged perhaps for centuries, but tliero 
seems to be no care, on the part of anybody 
who has the power, to preserve either the In- 
dian or the buifalo as a distinct race of man, 
and quadruped. 

A writer who reports his trip from Cali- 
fornia in the summer of '57, by Humboldt 
River and Fort Laramie, says : 

" I watched for buffalo, expecting to see 
them in the valleys of the streams, the head- wa- 
ters of the Platte. But the hundred miles upon 
the Sweet-water revealed no buffalo ; upon 
the JN'orth Platte above Laramie there were 
none, and on to Fort Kearney we looked in 
vain for this noble game. If we had been a 
wagon party, and therefore confined to the 
road, this would not have surprised us, as the 
immense emigration to California first, to Salt 
Lake next, and the United States army follow- 
ing, might be supposed to have driven them 
away. Then, too. Col. Sumner had been 
through, and with a war party of three hun- 



122 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON". 

dred mounted riflemen, had followed the Chey- 
ennes from Fort Laramie south to the head- 
waters of the Arkansas. But we frequently- 
left the road for days together, in pursuit of 
game and the finer scenery of the immediate 
river valley, or the hills as it happened. 

" Only until three days after passing Fort 
Kearney, did the glad sight greet us. 

" In the broad bottom — ten miles at least be- 
tween the hills that shut in the river valley — 
they were scattered thickly and quietly grazing. 

" In two hours after coming in sight of them, 
we pitched our camp upon the river bank, and 
were soon prepared for the hunt. Though ten 
thousand were in sight, we had not yet ap- 
proached within half a mile of one, so shy are 
they, moving off when we came in sight. 

" The Platte was three quarters of a mile 
wide where we were camped, and above and 
below us were numerous trails running from 
the river back into the hills. These were like 
the cow-paths running to a spring in a JS'ew 
England pasture. We camped about three 
o'clock, and soon after the buffalo upon one 
side of the stream commenced moving towards 
the river by these paths, and following each 
other close, to wade across it m a continuous 
line by half a dozen paths in sight from 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 123 

wliere we were. These moving lines of huge 
animals were continued till slumber closed our 
eyes, at ten o'clock in the evening, and we 
knew not how much longer. 

" Having no fresh animals, and only one 
that had not made the distance from the other 
side the Sierra Nevada within the last fifty 
days, we could not hunt by the chase. Ac- 
cordingly, with nicely loaded double barrelled 
rifle, we crept through the under-brush that 
lined the bank above us, and came near a line 
of buffalo crossing the river, and choosing our 
opportunity, as the animal pauses from the 
brisk trot before plunging into the stream, we 
were able to take good aim, and soon had 
lodged a ball in the breast of a fine cow, who 
with a bound leaped into the water, but was 
not able to proceed, nor needed the other shot 
which we lodged in the brain, to float her down 
the stream. 

" Calling help, we had her dressed directly, 
and the nicest steaks upon the coals already 
kindled at the camp, and found them exceed- 
ingly delicious — of course more so from the 
fact that we had taken it. Others of the party 
came in without success ; some had shot at a 
bufl'alo, others had got a sight of one, and at 
two of the crossings the line was broken tem- 



124 LIFE OF CHKISTOPHER CARSOJiq'. 

porarily by an unsuccessful attempt to kill an 
animal, but without hurting him. Most of us 
had no practice with this kind of game, though 
they had killed grouse, and some of them had 
shot antelope during our journey. But now 
their guns would not go oif, or they shot too 
high, or could not get near enough. Just at 
dark, however, the old gentleman came in for 
help. His French rifle — a gun of Revolu- 
tionary times — had done execution, and a big 
bull was the prize he announced. We invited 
him to our prepared repast, but ' no ! he would 
sup to-night upon his own game, he thanked 
us.' Of course he had the tongue from the an- 
imal he killed, nor were the tender-loin and 
other choice bits bad eating, and taking the 
tongue ourself, with the rest of the party, (of 
ten,) we managed to carry away in the morning 
nearly all of the cow that we had not already 
eaten. 

"All night long the bellowing from the 
other side the river greeted our tired senses. 
The situation was novel, and really in imagi- 
nation, quite terrific. Would they return 
across the river and stampede our animals ? 
We got a little sleep before midnight, but not 
much later. 

" In the morning the buffalo were indeed 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 125 

returning in the style they went, but as we 
rode on over their track, the lines were always 
broken, and the animals scattered before we 
could approach them, and only once did we 
come within pistol shot of any of them ; nor 
did the rest of the party do any better. 

" Of course we might have done it had we 
made this our business ; but we were hasten- 
ing from the El dorado, after a four years' ab- 
sence from our homes. So much for our ex- 
temporised buffalo hunting. In twenty-four 
hours after striking them, we had passed the 
buffalo, and saw no more of them. As we esti- 
mated it, we had seen in that time at least fifty 
thousand ; we had crossed the trail of fifteen 
lines of them crossing the river after we left 
camp this morning." 

We have quoted this to show the way in 
which travelers — emigrants now — meet the 
buffalo. Sometimes a huge drove of them 
overrun an emigrant party; but this seldom 
occurs, nor do parties often see more of them 
than did the one we have just presented, 
though usually they see them for a longer 
time. So much have the times changed since 
Larson was a trapper. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

With fresh animals, and men well fed and 
rested, McCoy and Carson and all their party 
soon started from Fort Hall, for the rendezvous 
again upon Green River, where they were de- 
tained some weeks for the arrival of other par- 
ties, enjoying as they best might the occasion, 
and preparing for future operations. 

A party of an hundred was here organized, 

with Mr. Fontenelle and Carson for its leaders, 

to trap upon the Yellowstone, and the head 

waters of the Missouri. It was known that 

they would probably meet the Blackfeet in 

whose grounds they were going, and it was 

therefore arranged, that, while fifty were to 

trap and furnish the food for the party, the 

remainder should be assigned to guard the 

camp and cook. There was no disinclination 

on the part of any to another meeting with tlie 

Blackfeet, so often had they troubled members 

of the party, especially Carson, who, while he 
{X26) 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEE CAESON. 127 

could be mananimous towards an enemy, would 
not turn aside from his course, if able to cope 
with him ; and now he was in a company which 
justly felt itself strong enough to punish the 
** thieving Blackfeet," as they spoke of them, 
he was anxious to pay oif some old scores. 

They saw nothing, however, of these In- 
dians ; but afterwards learned that the small- 
pox had raged terribly among them, and that 
they had kept themselves retired in mountain 
valleys, oppressed with fear and severe dis- 
ease. 

The winter's encampment was made m this 
region, and a party of Crow Indians which was 
with them, camped at a little distance, on the 
same stream. Here they had secured an 
abundance of meat, and passed the severe 
weather with a variety of amusements in 
which the Indians joined them in their lodges, 
made of buffalo hides. These lodges, very 
good substitutes for houses, are made in the 
form of a cone, spread by the means of poles 
spreading from a common centre, where there 
was a hole at the top for the passage of the smoke. 
These were often twenty feet in height, and as 
many feet in diameter, where they were pinned 
to the ground with stakes. In a large Adllage 
the Indians often had one lodge large enough 



128 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHEE CARSOl^. 

to hold fifty persons, and within 'were per 
formed their war dances around a fire made 
in the centre. During the pahny days of tho 
British Fur Company, in a lodge like this only 
made, instead, of birch-bark, Irving says the 
Indians of the north held their " primitive 
fairs," outside the city of Montreal, where they 
disposed of their furs. 

There was one drawback upon conviviality 
for this party, in the extreme difficulty of get- 
ting food for their animals ; for the food and 
fuel so abundant for themselves did not suffice 
for their horses. Snow covered the ground, 
and the trappers were obliged to gather willow 
twigs, and strip the bark from cottonwood 
trees, in order to keep them alive. The in- 
ner bark of the cottonwood is eaten by the 
Indians when reduced to extreme want. Be- 
side, the cold brought the buffalo down upon 
them in large herds, to share the nourishment 
they had provided for their horses. 

Spring at length opened, and gladly they 
again commenced trapping ; first on the Yel- 
lowstone, and soon on the head waters of the 
Missouri, where they learned that the Black- 
feet were recovered from the sickness of last 
year, which had not been so severe as it was 
reported, and that they were still anxious and 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 129 

in condition for a figlit, and were encamped 
not far from their present trapping grounds. 

Carson and five men went forward in ad^ 
vance " to reconnoitre," and found the vilhige 
preparing to remove, having learned of the 
presence of the trappers. Hurrying back, a 
party of forty-three was selected from the 
whole, and they unanimously selected Carson 
to lead them, and leaving the rest to move on 
with the baggage, and aid them if it should be 
necessary when they should come up with the 
Indians, they hastened forward, eager for a 
battle. 

Carson and his command were not long in 
overtaking the Indians, and dashing among 
them, at the first fire killed ten of their braves, 
but the Indians rallied, and retreated in good 
order. The white men were in fine spirits, 
and followed up their first attack with deadly 
result for three full hours, the Indians making 
scarce any resistance. Now their firing be- 
came less animated as their ammunition was 
getting low, and they had to use it with extreme 
caution. The Indians, suspecting this from the 
slackness of their fire, rallied, and with a tre- 
mendous whoop turned upon their enemies. 

Now Carson and his company could use 
their small arms, which produced a terrible 
9 



130 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CARSON. 

effect, and which enabled them again to drive 
back the Indians. They rallied yet again, and 
charged with so much power, and in such 
numbers, they forced the trappers to retreat. 

During this engagement, the horse of one 
of the mountaineers was killed, and fell wdth 
his whole weight upon his rider. Carson saw 
the condition of the man, with six warriors 
rushing to take his scalp, and reached the spot 
in time to save his friend. Leaping from the 
saddle, he placed himself before his fallen 
companion, shouting at the same time for his 
men to rally around him, and with deadly aim 
from his rifle, shot down the foremost warrior 

The trappers now rallied about Carson, and 
the remaining five warriors retired, without 
the scalp of their fallen foe. Only two of them 
reached a place of safety ; for the well aimed 
fire of the trappers leveled them with the 
earth. 

Carson's horse was loose, and as his comrade 
was safe, he mounted behind one of his men, 
and rode back to the ranks, while, by general 
impulse, the firing upon both sides ceased. 
His horse was captured and restored to him, 
but each party, now thoroughly exhausted, 
seemed to wait for the other to renew the at- 
tack. 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CAESON. 131 

While resting in this attitude, the other 
division of the trappers came in sight, but the 
Indians, showing no fear, posted themselves 
among the rocks at some distance from the 
scene of the last skirmish, and coolly waited 
for their adversaries. Exhausted ammunition 
had been the cause of the retreat of Carson and 
his force, but now with a renewed supply, and 
an addition of fresh men to the force, they ad- 
vanced on foot to drive the Indians from their 
hiding places. The contest was desperate and 
severe, but powder and ball eventually con- 
quered, and the Indians, once dislodged, scat- 
tered in every direction. The trappers consid- 
ered this a complete victory over the Black- 
feet, for a large number of their w^arriors were 
killed, and many more were wounded, while 
they had but three men killed, and a few se- 
verely wounded. 

Eontenelle and his party now camped at the 
scene of the engagement, to recruit their men, 
and bury here their dead. Afterward they 
trapped through the whole Blackfeet country, 
and with great success ; going where they 
pleased without fear or molestation. The In 
dians kept ofP their route^ evidently having ac- 
quaintance with Carson and his company 
enough to last them their life time. With the 



132 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOT^. 

small -pox and the white man's rifles the war-^ 
riors were much reduced, and the triLe which 
had formerly numbered thirty thousand, was 
already decimated, and a few more blowsj like 
the one dealt by this dauntless band, would 
suffice to break its spirit, and destroy its power 
for future evil. 

During the battle with the trappers, the 
women and children of the Blackfeet village 
were sent on in advance, and when the engage- 
ment was over, and the braves returned to them 
30 much reduced in numbers, and without a 
single scalp, the big lodge that had been erected 
for the war dance, was given up for the wounded, 
and in hundreds of Indian hearts grew a bit- 
terer hatred for the white man. 

An express, despatched for the purpose, an- 
nounced the place of the rendezvous to Fonte- 
nelle and Carson, who were now on Green 
River, and with their whole party and a large 
stock of furs, they at once set out for the place 
upon Mud River, to find the sales commenced 
before their arrival, so that in twenty days 
they were ready to break up camp. 

Carson now organized a party of seven, and 
proceeded to a trading post called Brown's 
Hole, where he joined a company of traders to 
go to the Navajoe Indians. He found this 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 133 

tribe more assimilated to the white man than 
any Indians he had yet seen, having many fine 
horses and large flocks of sheep and cattle. 
They also possessed the art of weaving, and 
their blankets were in great demand through 
Mexico, bringing high prices, on account of 
their great beauty, being woven in flowers with 
much taste. They were evidently a remnant 
of the Aztec race. 

They traded here for a large drove of fine 
mules, which, taken to the fort on the South 
Platte, realized good prices, when Carson went 
again to Brown's Hole, a narrow but pretty 
valley about sixteen miles long, upon the Colo- 
rado River. 

After many off*ers for his services from other 
parties, Carson at length engaged himself for 
the winter, to hunt for the men at this fort, and 
as the game was abundant in this beautiful 
valley, and in the canon country further down 
the Colorado, in its deer, elk, and antelope, re- 
minding him of his hunts upon the Sacra- 
mento, the task was a delightful one to him. 

In the spring, Carson trapped with Bridger 
and Owen's with passable success, and went to 
the rendezvous upon Wind River, at the head 
of the Yellowstone, and from thence, with a 
large part of the trappers at the rendezvous, 



134 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CAllSON. 

to the Yellowstone, where they camped in the 
vicinity for the winter, without seeing their old 
enemy, the Blackfeet Indians, until mid- 
winter, when they discovered that they were 
near their principal stronghold. 

A party of forty was selected to give them 
battle, with Carson, of course, for their captain. 
They found the Indians already in the field, to 
the number of several hundred, who made a 
brave resistance, until night and darkness ad- 
monished both parties to retire. In the morn- 
ing when Carson and his men went to the spot 
whither the Indians had retired, they were 
not to be found. They had given them a " wide 
berth," taking their all away with them, even 
their dead. 

Carson and his command returned to camp, 
where a council of war decided that as the In- 
dians would report, at the principal encamp- 
ment, the terrible loss they had sustained, and 
others would be sent to renew the fight, it was 
wise to prepare to act on the defensive, and 
use every precaution immediately ; and accord- 
ingly a sentinel was stationed on a lofty hill 
near by, who soon reported that the Indians 
were upon the move. 

Their plans matured, they at once threw up 
a breastwork, under Carson's direction, and 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSOIS'. 135 

waited the approach of the Indians, who came 
in slowly, the first parties waiting for those 
behind. After three days, a full thousand had 
reached the camp, about half a mile from the 
breastwork of the trappers. In their war 
paint — stripes of red across the forehead, and 
down either cheek — with their bows and ar- 
rows, tomahawks, and lances, this army of In- 
dians presented a formidable appearance to 
the small body of trappers who were opposed 
to them. 

The war dance was enacted in sight and 
hearing of the trappers, and at early dawn the 
Indians advanced, having made every prepa- 
ration for the attack. Carson commanded his 
men to reserve their fire till the Indians were 
near enough to have every shot tell ; but see- 
ing the strength of the white men's position, 
after a few inefi'ectual shots, the Indians re- 
tired, camped a mile from them, and finally 
separated into two parties, and went away, 
leaving the trappers to breathe more freely, 
for, at the be»t, the encounter must have been 
of a desperate character. 

They evidently recognized the leader who 
had before dealt so severely with them, in the 
skill with which the defence was arranged, and 
if the name of Kit Carson was on their lips, 



136 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CAKSOI?. 

they knew him for both bravery and magna- 
nimity, and had not the courage to oifer him 
battle. 

Another winter gone, saddlery, moccasin- 
making, lodge-building, to complete the repaira 
of the summer's wars and the winter's fight, 
all completed, Carson with fifteen men went, 
past Fort Hall, again to the Salmon River, 
and trapped part of the season there and upon 
Big Snake, and Goose Creeks, and selling his 
furs at Fort Hall, again joined Bridger in an- 
other trapping excursion into the Black feet 
country. 

The Blackfeet had molested the traps of an- 
other party who had arrived there before them, 
and had driven them away. The Indian as- 
sailants were still near, and Carson led his 
party against them, taking care to station him- 
self and men in the edge of a thicket, where 
they kept the savages at bay all day, taking a 
man from their number with nearly every 
shot of their well directed rifles. In vain the 
Indians now attempted to fire the thicket ; it 
would not burn, and sullenly they retired, 
forced again to acknowledge defeat at the 
hands of Kit Carson, the " Monarch of the 
Prairies." 

Carson's party now joined with the others, 



LIFE OF CHKISTOPHEE CARSON. 137 

but concluding that they coukl not trap suc- 
cessfully with the annoyance the Indians wero 
likely to give them, as their force was too 
small to hope to conquer, they left this part of 
the country for the north fork of the Missouri. 

Now they were with the friendly Flatheads, 
one of whose chiefs joined them in the hunt, 
and went into camp near them, with a party of 
his braves. This tribe of Indians, like several 
other tribes which extend along this latitude 
to the Pacific, have the custom which gives 
them their name, thus described by Irving, in 
speaking of the Indians upon the Lower Co- 
lumbia, about its mouth. 

" A most singular custom," he says, " pre- 
vails, not only among the Chinooks, but among 
most of the tribes about this part of the coast, 
which is the flattening of the forehead. The 
process by which this deformity is effected, 
commences immediately after birth. The in- 
fant is laid in a wooden trough, by way of cra- 
dle. The end on which the head reposes is 
higher than the rest. A padding is placed 
on the forehead of the infant, with a piece of 
bark above it, and is pressed doAvn by cords 
\\hich pass through holes upon the sides 
of the trough. As the tightening of tho 
padding and the pressure of the head to the 



138 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

board is gradual, the process is said not to be 
attended with pain. The appearance of the 
infant, however, while in this state of com- 
pression is whimsically hideous, and ' its little 
black eyes,' we are told, ' being forced out by 
the tightness of the bandages, resemble those 
of a mouse choked in a trap.' 

" About a year's pressure is sufficient to pro- 
duce the desired effect, at the end of which 
time, the child emerges from its bandages, a 
complete flathead, and continues so through 
life. It must be noted, however, that this 
flattening of the head has something in it of 
aristocratic significance, like the crippling of 
the feet among the Chinese ladies of quality. 
At any rate, it is the sign of freedom. No 
slave is permitted to bestow this deformity 
upon the head of his children ; all the slaves, 
therefore, are roundheads." 



CHAPTER XV. 

In the spring, Kit Carson proposed a differ- 
plan of operations ; he went to hunt on the 
streams in the vicinage of his winter's camp 
with only a single companion. The Utah In- 
dians, into whose country he came, were also 
friends of Carson, and, unmolested in his busi- 
ness, his eiforts were crowned with abundant 
success. He took his furs to Robideau fort, 
and with a party of five went to Grand River, 
and thence to Brown's Hole on Green River 
for the winter. 

In the following spring he went to the Utah 
country, to the streams that flow into Great 
Salt Lake on the South, which was rich in furs 
and of exceeding beauty, with the points of 
grand old snow mountains ever in sight, 
around him. 

From here he went to the New Fork, and as 

it was afterward described by a party for whom 

Carson was the guide, we shall not give the 

(139) 



140 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON 

description at this point of our narrative. 
Again he trapped among the Utahs, and dis- 
posed of his furs at Robideau Fort ; but now 
the prices did not please hira. Beaver fur was 
at a discount, and the trade of the trapper be- 
coming unprofitable. 

Baird, in his general report upon mammals, 
uses the following language, which is appro- 
pria'je in this connection : 

" The beaver once inhabited all of the globe 
lying in the northern temperate zone; yet 
from Europe, China, and all the eastern por- 
tion of the United States, it has been entirely 
exterminated, and a war so universal and re- 
lentless nas Deen waged upon this defenceless 
animal, his great intelligence has been so gen- 
erally opposed by the intelligence of man, 
it has seemed certain, unless some kind provi- 
dence should interpose, that the castor, like 
its congener, the Castorides, would soon be 
found only in a fossil state. 

" Happily that providence did interpose, 
through a certain ingenious somebody, who 
first suggested the use of silk in the place of 
fur for the covering of hats. The beaver were 
not yet exterminated from Western America, 
and now, since they are not " worth killing," 
in those inhospitable regions, where there is 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHEK CARSOT^. 141 

no encouragement for American enterprise or 
cupidity, we may hope that the beaver will 
there retain existence, in a home exclusively 
their own. 

" The price of beaver skins has so much 
diminished that they were offered to some of 
the party at twenty-five cents by the bale." 

Carson had pursued the business of trap- 
ping for eight years, and his life had been one 
of unceasing toil, of extreme hardship, full 
of danger, yet withal full of interest. More 
than this, while the lack of early scientific 
training had prevented him from making that 
record of his travels, which would have given 
the world the benefit of his explorations, he 
had treasured in his memory the knowledge 
of localities, of their conditions, and seasons, 
and advantages, which in the good time coming, 
would enable him to associate his labors with 
another, who possessed the scientific attain- 
ments which Carson lacked, and who with 
Carson's invaluable assistance would come to 
be known world wide as a bold explorer, and 
who, but for Carson's experience, where such 
experience was a chief requisite to success, 
might have failed in his first efforts in the 
grand enterprise entrusted to him. 

Carson knew the general features of the 



142 LIFE OF CHKISTOPHER CARSON. 

country, its mountains, plains, and rivei^s, and 
the minor points of animal and vegetable pro- 
ductions, from the head waters of the " mon- 
arch of rivers," to the mouth of the Colorado, 
and from the southern Arkansas to the Colum- 
bia, better, perhaps, than any one living, 
though yet but twenty-five years of age. 

We left Carson at Robideau Fort, tire(^ of 
the pursuit of trapping, as soon as it had be- 
come unprofitable, and while there, he arranged 
with three or four other trappers, to come 
down to Bent's Fort. The trip was like others 
made at this season, through a country where 
the rifle would supply food for the party, and 
arriving at Bent's Fort, where his name was 
already well-known, Carson could not long be 
idle. He engaged himself to Messrs. Bent 
and St. Yrain, as hunter to the fort, preferring 
this by far to the idea of seeking employment 
nearer civilized life. Indeed no situation 
could have pleased him better, if we may 
judge from the fact that he continued in it for 
eight years, and until the connection with his 
employers was broken by the death of one of 
the partners, Col. Bent. 

Gov. Bent, since appointed to the office of 
chief magistrate of New Mexico, by the United 
States Governn ent, had been killed by Mexi 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 143 

can Indians, and was universally mourned by 
Americans and Indians wherever he was 
known. Mr. St. Yrain, the other partner, was 
active during the Mexican war, since the date 
of which we write, still lives, and is esteemed^ 
as a father, by many an early mountaineer. 
Carson owed him gratitude for kindly sympa- 
thy and words of counsel, when yet a youth he 
was commencing his mountain life, and Dr. 
Peters, the first biographer of Kit Carson, 
dedicates his book to Col. St. Yrain, asserting 
that he was the first to discover and direct 
Carson's talents to the path in which they were 
employed. For both of these gentlemanly 
proprietors, Carson cherished a warm friend- 
ship, nor was there ever an unpleasant occur- 
rence between them. 

When game was plenty, he supplied the 
forty mouths to be filled with ease, but when 
it was scarce, his task was sometimes difficult, 
but skill and experience enabled him to 
triumph over every obstacle. 

It is not strange that with such long experi- 
ence Carson became the most skillful of hunt- 
ers, and won the name of the " ISTestor of the 
Rocky Mountains." Among the Indians he 
had earned the undisputed title of " Monarch 
of the Prairies." 



144 LIFE OF CHKISTOPHER CARSON". 

But while lie killed thousands of elk, deer, 
and antelope, nor disdained the rabbit and the 
grouse, and took the wild goose on the wing, 
of all the game of beast or bird, he liked the 
best to hunt the buffalo, for there was an ex- 
citement in the chase of that noble animal 
which aroused his spirits to the highest pitch 
of excitement. 

Assuredly, Christopher Carson's is *' a life 
out of the usual routine, and checkered with 
adventures which have sorely tested the cour- 
age and endurance of this wonderful man." 
Col. St. Vrain, in the preface to Peters' Life 
of Carson, says, 

" Entering upon his life work at the age of 
seventeen, choosing now to think for himself, 
nor follow the lead of those who would detain 
him in a quiet life, while he felt the restless 
fire ' in his bones,' that forbade his burying his 
energy in merely mechanical toil, he had yet 
been directed in his choice, by the fitness for 
it the pursuits of youth had given, and spurn- 
ing the humdrum monotony of the shop, gave 
himself entirely to what would most aid him 
in attaining the profession he had chosen. Wo 
must admire such spirit in a youth, for it au- 
gurs well for the energy and will power of the 
manhood ; therefore, when the biographer says 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 145 

of Christopher Carson, that the neighbors who 
knew him, predicted an uncommon life in the 
child with whom they hunted, and conceded to 
him positions, as well as privileges, that were 
not accorded to common men, with his life till 
thirty-three before us, we feel that he has ful- 
filled the hope of early promise, with a noble 
manhood." 

We have followed Carson's pathway, with- 
out much of detail, to the localities where he 
practised the profession he had chosen, until 
we saw him leave it because it ceased longer 
to afford compensation for his toil, and dur- 
ing as long a period we have written of his 
quiet pursuit of the, to him, pleasant, but la- 
borious life of a hunter ; unless we must class 
the latter eight years with the former, and 
assume each as a part of the profession he had 
chosen. 

In all, with perhaps the exception of a few 
weeks at Santa Fe, when still in his minority, 
we have found him ever strong to resist the 
thousand temptations to evil with which his 
pathway was beset, and which drew other men 
away. Strong ever in the maintenance of the 
integrity of his manhood, even when the con- 
vivial circle and the game had a brief fas- 
cination for him, they taught him the lesson 
10 



146 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOJS. 

which he needed to learn, that only by earnest 
resistance, can evil be overcome ; and thus he 
was enabled to admonish others against those 
temptations which had once overcome even 
his powers of resistan3e; and so he learned to 
school himself to the idea, that good conies 
ever through the temptation to evil to all 
those who have the courage to extract it. 

We have followed him up and down all the 
streams of our great central western wilds, and 
indicated the store of geographic knowledge 
which he had acquired by hard experience be- 
fore they were known so far to any one be- 
sides ; and then for eight years more we have 
seen that this knowledge was digested and re- 
viewed in the social circle with other moun- 
tain trappers, and beside the lonely mountain 
river, and 'neath the wild, steep cliff; or on 
the grassy bottom, or the barren plain, and in 
the less sterile places where the sage hen found 
a covert, and up among the oak openings, and 
in the gigantic parks, where, as a hunter, he 
revisited old haunts. 

In all his toilsome and adventurous enter- 
prises, while he sought to benefit himself, he 
never turned away, nor failed to lend a help- 
ing hand to a needy, suffering brother, or to 
encourage one who needed such a lesson, to 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 147 

turn his youth to the most account ; and if aifec- 
tionate regard is a recompense for such service, 
he had his compensation, as he passed along 
the path he had marked out for himself, not 
from the white man alone, but from the In- 
dian who everywhere came to look upon Kit 
Carson as his friend. 

The Camanches, the Arapahoes, the Utahs, 
and the Cheyennes, besides several smaller 
tribes, knew him personally in the hunt, and 
he had sat by their camp fires, and dandled 
their children, and sung to them the ditty, 

" What makes the lamb love Mary so ? 
The eager children cry ; 
"Why Mary loves the lamb, you know, 
And that's the reason why." 

The Indians feared, and reverenced, and 
loved him, and that this latter may be proved 
to the reader we relate the following story of 
private history, nor will it be esteemed out of 
taste : 

The powerful Sioux had come from the 
north beyond their usual hunting grounds, 
and had had skirmishes with several Indian 
bands, some of whom sent for Carson to tho 
Upper Arkansas to come over and help them 
drive back the Sioux. As the larder at the 
fort was full, he consented to go with the war 



148 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

painted Camanche messengers to a camp of 
their tribe, united with a band of Arapahoes. 
They told him the Sioux had a thousand war- 
riors and many rifles, and they feared them, 
but knew that the " Monarch of the Prairies" 
could overcome them. Carson sat in council 
with the chiefs, and finally, instead of encour- 
aging them to fight, persuaded them to peace, 
and acted so successfully the part of mediator, 
that the Sioux consented to retire from the 
hunting grounds of the Camanches when the 
season was over, and they separated without a 
collision. 

It was while engaged as hunter for Messrs. 
Bent and St. Vrain, Carson took to himself an 
Indian wife, by whom he had a daughter still 
living, and who forms the connecting 'iink be- 
tween his past hardships, and his present 
greatness ; for that he is emphatically a great 
man, the whole civilized world has acknow- 
ledged. 

The mother died soon after her birth, and 
Carson feeling that his rude cabin was scarcely 
tne place to rear his child, determined, when 
of a suitable age, to take her to St. I^ouis, and 
secure for her those advantages of education 
which circumstances had denied to him ; and 
accordingly, when his engagement at the fort 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CAESON. 149 

had expired, he determined to go to St. Louis 
for that purpose, embracing on the route the 
opportunity of visiting the home of his boy- 
hood, which he had not seen for sixteen years. 

Of course he found everything changed. 
Many of those whom he had known as men 
and heads of families, were now grown old, 
while more had died off; but by those to whom 
he was made known, he was recognized with a 
heartiness of welcome which brought tears to 
his eyes, though his heart was saddened at the 
changes which time had wrought. His fame 
had preceded him, and his welcome was there- 
fore doubly cordial, for he had more than veri- 
fied the promise of his youth. 

Thence he proceeded to St. Louis, with the 
intention of placing his daughter at school, but 
here, to his great amazement, he found himself 
a lion ; for the advent of such a man in such a 
city, which had so often rung with his deeds 
of daring and suffering, could not be per- 
mitted to remain among its citizens unknown 
or unrecognized. He was courted and feted 
and though gratified at the attentions showered 
upon him, found himself so thoroughly out of 
his element, that he longed to return to more 
pleasant and more familiar scenes, his old 
hunting grounds. 



150 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

Having accomplislied the object of his visit 
to St. Louis, in pLacing his daughter under 
proper guardianship, he left the city, carrying 
with him pleasing, because merited remem- 
brances of the attentions paid to him, and 
leaving behind him impressions of the most 
favoral^le character. 

Soon after he reached St. Louis, he had the 
good fortune to fall in with Lieut. Fremont, 
who was there organizing a party for the ex- 
ploration of the far western country, as yet 
unknown, and who was anxiously awaiting the 
arrival of Captain Drips, a well known trader 
and trapper, who had been highly recom- 
mended to him as a guide. 

Kit Carson's name and fame were familiar 
as household words to Fremont, and he gladly 
availed himself of his proffered services in 
lieu of those of Capt. Drips. It did not take 
long for two such men as John C. Fremont 
and Kit Carson to become thoroughly ac- 
quainted with each other, and the accidental 
meeting at St. Louis resulted in the cementing 
of a friendship which has never been impaired, 
— won as it was on the one part by fidelity, 
truthfulness, integrity, and courage, united to 
vast experience and consummate skill in the 
prosecution of the duty he had assumed — on the 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 151 

otlier by every quality which commands honour, 
regard, esteem, and high personal devotion. 

And now Carson's life has commenced in 
earnest, for heretofore he has only been fitting 
himself to live. His name is embodied in the 
archives of our country's history, and no one 
has been more ready to accord to him the credit 
he so well earned, as has he who had the good 
fortune to secure, at the same time, the services 
of the most experienced guide of his day, and 
the devotion of a friend. 

Lieut. Fremont had instructions to explore 
and report upon the country lying between 
the frontiers of Missouri and the South Pass 
in the Rocky Mountains, on the line of the 
Kansas and Great Platte Rivers, and with his 
party, leaving St. Louis on the 22nd of May, 
1842, by steamboat for Chouteau's Landing 
on the Missouri, near the mouth of the Kansas, 
at a point twelve miles beyond at Chouteau's 
trading post, he encamped there to complete 
his arrangements for this important expedition. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Fremont was delayed several days at Chou- 
teau's Landing, by the state of the weather, 
which prevented the necessary astronomical 
observations, but finally all his arrangements 
being completed, and the weather permitting, 
the party started in the highest spirit, and 
filled with anticipations of an exciting and ad- 
venturous journey. 

He had collected in the neighborhood of St. 
Louis twenty-one men, principally Creole and 
Canadian voyageurSj who had become familiar 
with prairie life in the service of the fur com- 
panies in the Indian country. Mr. Charles 
Preuss, a native of Germany, was his assistant 
in the topographical part of the survey. L. 
Maxwell, of Kaskaskia, had been engaged as 
hunter, and Christoj)her Carson as guide. 

Mr. Cyprian Chouteau, to whose kindness, 

during their stay at his house, all were much 

indebted, accompanied them several miles on 
(152) 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 153 

their way, until they met an Indian, whom he 
had engaged to conduct them on the first thirty 
or forty miles, where he was to consign them 
to the ocean prairie, which stretched, without 
interruption, almost to the base of the Rocky 
Mountains. 

During the journey, it was the customary 
practice to encamp an hour or two before sun- 
set, when the carts were disposed so as to form 
a sort of barricade around a circle some eighty 
yards in diameter. The tents were pitched, 
and the horses hobbled and turned loose to 
graze ; and but a few minutes elapsed before 
the cooks of the messes, of which there were 
four, were busily engaged in preparing the 
evening meal. At nightfall, the horses, mules, 
and oxen, were driven in and picketed — that 
is, secured by a halter, of which one end was 
tied to a small steel-shod picket, and driven into 
the ground ; the halter being twenty or thirty 
feet long, which enabled them to obtain a lit- 
tle food during the night. When they had 
reached a part of the country where such a 
precaution became necessary, the carts being 
regularly arranged for defending the camp, 
guard was mounted at eight o'clock, consist- 
ing of three men, who were relieved every two 
hours ; the morning watch being horse gv.ard 



154 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHEE CARSON. 

for the day. At daybreak, the camp was 
roused, the animals turned loose to graze, and 
breakfast generally over between six and 
seven o'clock, when they resumed their march, 
making regularly a halt at noon for one or 
two hours. Such was usually the order of the 
day, except when accident of country forced 
a variation, which, however, happened but 
rarely. 

They reached the ford of the Kansas late in 
the afternoon of the 14th, where the river was 
two hundred and thirty yards wide, and com- 
menced immediately preparations for crossing. 
The river had been swollen by the late rains, 
and was sweeping by with an angry current, 
yellow and turbid as the Missouri. Up to 
this point, the road traveled was a remarka- 
bly fine one, well beaten and level — the usual 
road of a prairie country. By this route, the 
ford was one hundred miles from the mouth 
of the Kansas river, on reaching which several 
mounted men led the way into the stream, to 
swim across. The animals were driven in after 
them, and in a few minutes all had reached 
the opposite bank in safety, with the exceptioii 
of the oxen, which swam some distance down 
the river, and, returning to the right bank, 
were not got over until the next morning. In 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEE CARSOl!^, 155 

the meantime, tlie carts had been unloaded 
and dismantled, and an India-rubber boat, 
which had been brought for the survey of the 
Platte River, placed in the water. The boat 
was twenty feet long and five broad, and on it 
were placed the body and wheels of a cart, 
with the load belonging to it, and three men 
witli paddles. 

The velocity of the current, and the incon- 
venient freight, rendering it difficult to be 
managed, Basil Lajeunesse, one of the best 
swimmers, took in his teeth a line attached to 
the boat, and swam ahead in order to reach a 
footing as soon as possible, and assist in draw- 
ing her over. In this manner, six passages 
had been successfully made, and as many carts 
with their contents, and a greater portion of the 
party, deposited on the left bank ; but night 
was drawing near, and in his great anxiety to 
complete the crossing before dcirkness set in, 
he put on the boat, contrary to the advice of 
Carson, the last two carts with their loads. 
The consequence was, the boat was capsized, 
and everything on board was in a moment 
floating down stream. They were all, h( w- 
ever, eventually recovered, but not without 
great trouble. Carson and Maxwell, who had 
been in the water nearly all the succeed^'ng day, 



156 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

searcliing for the lost articles, were taken so 
ill in consequence of the prolonged exposure, 
the party was obliged to lie by another day to 
enable them to recruit, for to proceed without 
them would have been folly. 

The dense timber which surrounded their 
camp, interfering with astronomical observa- 
tions, and the wet and damaged stores requir- 
ing exposure to the sun, the tents were struck 
early the next day but one after this disaster 
and the party moved up the river about seven 
miles, where they camped upon a handsome 
open prairie, some twenty feet above the 
water, and where the fine grass afforded a lux- 
urious repast to the weary animals. They lay 
in camp here two days, during which time the 
men Avere kept busy in drying the provisions, 
painting the cart covers, and otherwise com- 
pleting their equipage, until the afternoon 
when powder was distributed to them, and 
they spent some hours in firing at a mark, as 
they were now fairly in the Indian country, 
and it began to be time to prepare for the 
chances of the wilderness. 



CHAPTER XVII 

Leaving the river bottom, the road which 
was the Oregon trail, past Fort Laramie, — ran 
along the uplands, over a rolling country, 
upon which were scattered many boulders ot 
red sand-stone, some of them of several tons 
weight ; and many beautiful plants and flowers 
enlivened the prairie. The barometer indi- 
cated fourteen hundred feet above the level of 
the sea, and the elevation appeared to have its 
influence on vegetation. 

The country became more broken, rising 
still and covered everywhere with fragments 
of silicious limestone, strewn over the earth 
like pebbles on the sea shore ; especially upon 
the summits and exposed situations; and in 
these places but few plants grew, while in the 
creek bottoms, and ravines, a great variety of 
plants flourished. 

For several days they continued their jour- 
ney, annoyed only by the lack of water, and 

(157) 



158 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

at length reached the range of the Pawnees 
who infested that part of the country, stealing 
horses from companies on their way to the 
mountains, and when in sufficient force, oj)enly 
attacking them, and subjecting them to various 
insults ; and it was while encamped here, that 
a regular guard was mounted for the first time, 
but the night passed over without annoyance. 

Speaking of the constant watchfulness re- 
quired when in the neighborhood of hostile oi 
thieving Indians, Fremont says, 

" The next morning we had a specimen of 
the false alarms to which all parties in these 
wild regions are subject. Proceeding up the 
valley, objects were seen on the opposite hills, 
which disappeared before a glass could be 
brought to bear upon them. A man, who was 
a short distance in the rear, came spurring up 
in great haste, shouting, Indians ! Indians ! 
He had been near enough to see and count 
them, according to his report, and had made 
out twenty-seven. I immediately halted ; arms 
were examined and put in order; the usual 
preparations made ; and Kit Carson, springing 
upon one of the hunting horses, crossed the 
river, and galloped off into the opposite 
prairies, to obtain some certain intelligence of 
,their movements. 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CAESOTI. 159 

^' Mounted on a fine horse, without a saddle, 
and scouring bareheaded over the prairies, Kit 
was one of the finest pictures of a horseman I 
have ever seen. A short time enabled him to 
discover that the Indian war party of twenty- 
seven consisted of six elk, who had been 
gazing curiously at our caravan as it passed 
by, and were now scampering off at full speed. 
This was our first alarm, and its excitement 
broke agreeably on the monotony of the day. 
At our noon halt, the men were exercised at a 
target; and in the evening we pitched our 
tents at a Pawnee encampment of last July. 
They had apparently killed buffalo here, as 
many bones were lying about, and the frames 
where the hides had been stretched were yet 
standing." 

Leaving the fork of the " Blue," upon a high 
dividing ridge, in about twenty-one miles they 
reached the coast of the Platte, or Nebraska 
River as it is called, a line of low hills, or the 
break from the prairie to the river bottom. 
Cacti here were numerous, and the amorjplia^ 
remarkable for its large and luxuriant purple 
clusters, was in full bloom. From the foot of 
the coast, two miles across the level bottom, 
brought them to the shore of the river twenty 
miles below the head of Grand Island, and 



160 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSC ff . 

more than three hundred from the mouth of the 
Kansas. The elevation of the Platte valley 
here was about two thousand feet above the 
level of the sea. 

The next day they met a party of fourteen, 
who had started sixty days before from Fort 
Laramie, in barges laden with furs for the 
American Fur Company, hoping to come down 
the Platte without difficulty, as they left upon 
the annual flood, and their boats drew only 
nine inches of water. But at Scott's bluffs, 
one hundred and thirty miles below Fort Lar- 
amie, the river became so broad and shallow, 
and the current so changeful among the sand- 
bars, that they abandoned their boats and 
cached their cargoes, and were making the rest 
of their journey to St. Louis on foot, each with 
a pack as large as he could carry. 

In the interchange of news, and the re- 
newal of old acquaintanceships, they found 
wherewithal to fill a busy hour. Among 
them Fremont had found an old companion 
on the northern prairie, a hardened and hardly 
served veteran of the mountains, who had 
been as much hacked and scarred as an old 
moustache of JSTapoleon's " old guard." He 
flourished in the sobriquet of La Tulipe, and his 
real name no one knew. Finding that he waa 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOX. 161 

going to the States only because his company 
was bound in that direction, and that he was 
rather more willing to return with Fremont, 
ho was taken again into his service. 

A few days more of travel, whose monotony 
was not relieved by any incident worth nar- 
rating, brought the party in sight of the buf- 
falo, swarming in immense numbers over the 
plains, where they had left scarcely a blade of 
grass standing. " Mr. Preuss," says Fremont, 
" who was sketching at a little distance in the 
rear, had at first noted them as large groves 
of timber. In the sight of such a mass of life, 
the traveler feels a strange emotion of gran- 
deur. We had heard from a distance a dull 
and confused murmuring, and when we came 
in view of their dark masses, there was not 
one among us who did not feel his heart beat 
quicker. It was the early part of the day, 
when the herds are feeding ; and everywhere 
they were in motion. Here and there a huge 
old bull was rolling in the grass, and clouds 
of dust rose in the air from various parts of 
the bands, each the scene of some obstinate 
fight. Indians and bufi*alo make the poetry 
and life of the prairie, and our camj) was full 
of their exhilaration. In place of the quiet 
monotony of the march, relieved only by the 



162 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSOK. 

cracking of the whip, and an ' avcmce done ! en- 
fant de garce P shouts and songs resounded 
from every part of the line, and our evening 
camp was always the commencement of a feast, 
which terminated only with our departure on 
the following morning. At any time in the 
night might be seen pieces of the most delicate 
meat, roasting en aj)^olas, on sticks around the 
fire, and the guard were never without com- 
pg^y. With pleasant weather, and no enem} 
to fear, an abundance of the most excellent 
meat, and no scarcity of bread or tobacco, they 
were enjoying the oasis of a voyageur's life." 

Three cows were killed on that day, but a 
serious accident befell Carson in the course of 
the chase, which had nearly cost him his life 
Kit had shot one, and was continuing the 
chase, in the midst of another herd, when his 
horse fell headlong, but sprang up and joined 
the flying band. Though considerably hurt, 
he had the good fortune to break no bones ; 
and Maxwell, who was mounted on a fleet 
hunter, captured the runaway after a hard 
chase. He was on the point of shooting him, 
to avoid the loss of his bridle, (a handsomely 
mounted Spanish one,) when he found that his 
horse was able to come up with him. 

This mishap, however, did not deter Kit 



LIFE OF CHKISTOPHEK CARSOI^. 163 

from his favorite pursuit of buffalo hunting, 
for on the following day, notwithstanding his 
really serious accident, we find him ready and 
eager for another chase. Fremont in his nar- 
rative thus relates the occurrence : — 

"As we were riding quietly along the bank, 
a grand herd of buffalo, some seven or eight 
hundred in number, came crowding up from 
the river, where they had been to drink, and 
commenced crossing the plain slowly, eating 
as they went. The wind was favorable ; the 
coolness of the morning invited to exercise ; 
the ground was apparently good, and the dis- 
tance across the prairie (two or three miles) 
gave us a fine opportunity to charge them be- 
fore they could get among the river hills. It 
was too fine a prospect for a chase to be lost ; 
and halting for a few moments, the hunters 
were brought up and saddled, and Kit Carson, 
Maxwell, and I, started together. They were 
now somewhat less than half a mile distant, 
and we rode easily along until within about 
three hundred yards, when a sudden agitation, 
a wavering in the band, and a galloping to 
and fro of some which were scattered along 
the skirts, gave us the intimation that wo 
were discovered. We started together at a 
hand gallop, riding steadily abreast of each 



164 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON 

other, and here the interest of the chase bo- 
came SO engrossingly intense, that we were sen- 
sible to nothing else. We were now closing 
upon them rapidly, and the front of the mass 
svas already in rapid motion for the hills, and 
in a few seconds the movement had communi- 
cated itself to the whole herd. 

" A crowd of bulls, as usual, brought up the 
rear, and every now and then some of them 
faced about, and then dashed on after the band 
a short distance, and turned and looked again, 
as if more than half inclined to stand and 
fight. In a few moments, however, during 
which we had been quickening our pace, the 
rout was universal, and we were going over 
the g] ound like a hurricane. When at about 
thirty yards, we gave the usual shout (the 
hunter's 'pas de charge)^ and broke into the 
herd. We entered on the side, the mass giv- 
ing way in every direction in their heedless 
course. Many of the bulls, less active and 
less fleet than the cows, paying no attention to 
the ground, and occupied solely with the hun- 
ter, were precipitated to the earth with great 
force, rolling over and over with the vio- 
lence of the shock, and hardly distinguishable 
in the dust. We separated on entering, each 
singling out his game. 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. l65 

" My horse was a trained hunter, famous in 
the west under the name of Proveau, and with 
his eyes flashing, and the foam flying from 
his mouth, sprang on after the cow like a 
tiger. In a few moments he brought me 
alongside of her, and rising in the stirrups, I 
fired at the distance of a yard, the ball enter- 
ing at the termination of the long hair, and 
passing near the heart. She fell headlong at 
the report of the gun, and, checking my horse, 
I looked around for my companions. 

"At a little distance. Kit was on the ground, 
engaged in tying his horse to the horns of a 
cow which he was preparing to cut up. Among 
the scattered bands, at some distance below, I 
caught a glimpse of Maxwell ; and while I was 
looking, a light wreath of white smoke curled 
away from his gun, from which I was too far 
to hear the report. Nearer, and between me 
and the hills, towards which they were direct- 
ing their course, was the body of the herd, and 
giving my horse the rein, we dashed after 
them. A thick cloud of dust hung upon their 
rear, which filled my mouth and eyes, and 
nearly smothered me. In the midst of this I 
could see nothing, and the bufl'alo were not 
distinguishable until within thirty feet. 

" They crowded together more densely still 



166 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

as I came upon them, and rushed along in a 
such a compact body, that I could not obtain 
an entrance — the horse almost leaping upon 
them. In a few moments the mass divided to 
the right and left, the horns clattering with a 
noise heard above everything else, and my 
horse darted into the opening. 

" Five or six bulls charged on us as we 
dashed along the line, but were left far be- 
hind ; and singling out a cow, I gave her my 
fire, but struck too high. She gave a tremen- 
dous leap, and scoured on swifter than before. 
I reined up my horse, and the band swept on 
like a torrent, and left the place quiet and 
clear. Our chase had led us into dangerous 
ground. A prairie-dog village, so thickly set- 
tled that there were three or four holes in every 
twenty yards square, occupied the whole bot- 
tom for nearly two miles in length. Looking 
around, I saw only one of the hunters, nearly 
out of sight, and the long dark line of our car- 
avan crawling along, three or four miles dis- 
tant." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

The encampment of the party on the 4th 
of July, was a few miles from where the road 
crosses over to the north fork of the Platte, 
where a grand dinner was prepared, toasts 
drank, and salutes fired ; and it was here Fre- 
mont decided to divide his party, wishing, him- 
self, to explore the south fork of the Platte, as 
far as St. Yrain's Fort ; and taking with him 
Maxwell and two others of his men, and the 
Cheyenne Indians, whose village was upon 
this river, he left the rest of the party to pro- 
ceed under the direction of Clement Lambert 
up the north fork to Fort Laramie, where they 
were to wait his arrival, as he intended to cross 
the country between the two forts. 

Buffalo were still plenty upon Fremont's 
route, and the Indians with him made an un- 
successful attempt to lasso the leader of a 
drove of wild horses, which they passed. They 

met a band of two or three hundred Arapahoe 

(167) 



168 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOX. 

Indians, and were only saved from an attack 
by Maxwell, who secured a timely recognition 
from the old chief who led the party, which 
proved to be from a village among whom he 
had resided as a trader, and whose camp the 
chief pointed out to them some six miles dis- 
tant. They had come out to surround a band 
of buffalo which was feeding across the river, 
and were making a large circuit to avoid giving 
them the wind, when they discovered Fre- 
mont's party, whom they had mistaken for 
Pawnees. In a few minutes the women came 
galloping up, astride of their horses, and 
naked from their knees down, and the hips up. 
They followed the men to assist in cutting up 
and carrying oif the meat. 

The wind was blowing directly across the 
river, and the chief having requested Fremont 
to remain where he then was, to avoid raising 
the herd, he readily consented, and having un- 
saddled their horses, they sat down to view the 
scene. The day had become very hot, the ther- 
mometer standing at 108°. The Indians com- 
menced crossing the river, and as soon as they 
were upon the other side, separated into two 
bodies. 

Fremont thus describes this exciting hunt, 
or massacre, as the reader may choose to de 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOj^. 169 

sign ate it, — and his subsequent visit to the Ar- 
apahoe village : 

*' One party proceeded directly across the 
prairie, towards the hills, in an extended line, 
while the other went up the river ; and in- 
stantly, as they had given the wind to the herd, 
the chase commenced. The buifalo started for 
the hills, but were intercepted and driven back 
toward the river, broken and running in every 
direction. The clouds of dust soon covered 
the whole scene, preventing us from having 
any but an occasional view. It had a very 
singular appearance to us at a distance, espe- 
cially when looking with the glass. 

" We were too far to hear the report of the 
guns, or any sound, and at every instant, 
through the clouds of dust, which the sun 
made luminous, we could see for a moment 
two or three buffalo dashing along, and close 
behind them an Indian with his long spear, 
or other weapon, and instantly again they 
disappeared. The apparent silence, and the 
dimly seen figures flitting by with such ra- 
pidity, gave it a kind of dreamy effect, and 
seemed more like a picture than a scene of 
real life. 

"It had been a large herd when the cerrie 
commenced, probably three or four hundred in 



170 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

number ; but though I watched them closely, 
I did not see one emerge from the fatal cloud 
whore the work of destruction was going on. 
After remaining here about an hour, we re- 
sumed our journey in the direction of the vil- 
lage. 

" Grradually, as we rode on, Indian after In- 
dian came dropping along, laden with meat ; 
and by the time we had reached the lodges, 
the backward road was covered with the re- 
turning horsemen. It was a pleasant contrast 
with the desert road we had been traveling. 
Several had joined company with us, and one 
of the chiefs invited us to his lodge. 

" The village consisted of about one hun- 
dred and twenty-five lodges, of which twenty 
were Cheyennes ; the latter pitched a little 
apart from the Arapahoes. They were dis- 
posed in a scattering manner on both sides of 
a broad, irregular street, about one hundred 
and fifty feet wide, and running along the river. 
As we rode along, I remarked near some of 
the lodges a kind of tripod frame, formed of 
three slender poles of birch, scraped very 
clean, to which were affixed the shield and 
spear, with some other weapons of a chief. All 
were scrupulously clean, the spear head was 
burnished bright, and the shield white and 



LIFE OF CHRTSrorHER CARSON. 171 

stainless. It reminded me of the days of 
feudal chivalry ; and when, as I rode by, I 
yielded to the passing impulse, and touched 
one of the spotless shields with the muzzle of 
my gun, I almost expected a grim warrior to 
start from the lodge and resent my challenge. 

" The master of the lodge spread out a robe 
for me to sit upon, and the squaws set before 
us a large wooden dish of buffalo meat. He 
had lit his pipe in the meanwhile, and when it 
had been passed around, we commenced our 
dinner while he continued to smoke. Gradu- 
ally, five or six other chiefs came in, and took 
their seats in silence. When we had finished, 
our host asked a number of questions relative 
to the object of our journey, of which I made 
no concealment ; telling him simj)ly that I had 
made a visit to see the country, preparatory to 
the establishment of military posts on the way 
to the mountains. 

" Although this was information of the 
highest interest to them, and by no means 
calculated to please them, it excited no expres- 
sion of surprise, and in no way altered the 
grave courtesy of their demeanor. The others 
listened and smoked. I remarked, that in 
taking the pipe for the first time, each had 
turned the stem upward, with a rapid glance, 



172 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOI^ 

as in offering to the Great Spirit, before he put 
it in his mouth." 

Riding near the river, Fremont and Max- 
well had an interview with Jim Beckwith, who 
had been chief of the Crow Indians, but had 
left them some time before, and was now re- 
siding in this river bottom, with his wife, a 
Spanish woman from Taos. They also passed 
a camp of four or five New Englanders, with 
Indian wives — a party of independent trap- 
pers, and reached St. Vrain's Fort on the eve- 
ning of July 10th, where they were hospitably 
entertained by Mr. St. Yrain, and received 
from him such needed assistance as he was 
able to render. Maxwell was at home here, 
as he had spent the last two or three years be- 
tween the fort and Taos. 

On the evening of the fifteenth, they arrived 
at Fort Laramie, a post of the American Fur 
Company, near the junction of the Laramie 
Creek with the Platte River, which had quite 
a military appearance, with its lofty walls 
whitewashed and picketed, and large bastions 
at the angles. A cluster of lodges belonging 
to the Sioux Indians was pitched under the 
walls. He was received with great hospitality 
by the gentleman in charge of the fort, Mr. 
Boudeau, having letters of introduction to him 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 173 

from the company at St. Louis, and it is hardly 
necessary to say that he was hospitably re- 
ceived and most kindly treated. He found 
Carson with the party under his command 
camped on the bank near the fort, by whom 
they .were most warmly welcomed, and in the 
enjoyment of a bountiful supper, which coffee 
and bread converted almost into a luxury, 
they forgot the toils and sufferings of the past 
ten days. 

The news brought by Mr. Preuss, who it 
will be remembered was with Carson's party, 
was as exciting as it was unpleasant. He had 
learned that the Sioux who had been badly 
disposed, had now broken out into open hos- 
tility, and his informant, a well known trap- 
per, named Bridger, had been attacked by them, 
and had only defeated them after serious losses 
on both sides. United with the Cheyennes 
and Gros Ventre Indians, they were scouring 
the country in war parties, declaring war upon 
every living thing which should pass the Red 
Suites; their special hostility being, however, di- 
rected against the white men. In fact the coun- 
try was swarming with hostile Indians, and it 
was but too evident that any party who should 
attempt to enter upon the forbidden grounds, 
must do so at the certain hazard of their lives. 



174 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CARSON. 

Of course such intelligence created gre^v com 
motion throughout the camp, and it ^rmod 
the sole subject of conversation and disoussioix 
during the evenings around the camp fires. 

Speaking of this report, and the effect pre • 
duced upon his men, Fremont uses the follow- 
ing language : 

" Carson, one of the best and most experi- 
enced mountaineers, fully supported the opin- 
ion given by Bridger of the dangerous state 
of the country, and openly expressed his con- 
viction that we could not escape without some 
sharp encounters with the Indians. In addi- 
tion to this, he made his will ; and among the 
circumstances which were constantly occurring 
to increase their alarm, this was the most 
unfortunate ; and I found that a number of 
my party had become so much intimidated 
that they had requested to be discharged at 
this place." 

Carson's apprehensions were fully justified 
by the circumstances surrounding them ; and 
wiiile we might have omitted the above quota 
tion, as tending to exhibit him in a false light , 
doubtless unintentionally, we choose rather to 
say a few words which will rob the insinuatio:> 
of its sting. 

While there was reason to expect an en 



LIFE Oi CHRISTOPHER CARSON., 175 

counter with Indians, in whom it was reported 
the spirit of revenge was cherished towards 
the whites, more than ever it had been before, 
and whom numbers and acquisition of fire- 
arms rendered really formidable foes, he felt 
that the party with whom he was now associ- 
ated, were not the men upon whom he could 
rely with certainty in an engagement against 
such terrible odds. In the days of his earlier 
experiences, the old trappers with him were 
men who had as little fear as himself, and 
were also experienced in such little affairs, for 
such they considered them. ]^ow, except 
Maxwell, an old associate, and two or three 
others, the men of the party were half para- 
lyzed with fear at the prospect which this re- 
port presented to them ; and it was the know- 
ledge of their fear, which they made no attempt 
to conceal, which excited in his mind appre- 
hensions for the worst, for he did not choose 
to guide others into danger recklessly, even if 
he had no care for himself. 

Headlong rashness, which some might mis- 
take for courage, was not a trait of his charac- 
ter ; but the voice of a whole country accords 
to aim cool bravery, presence of mind, and 
courage to meet whatever danger forethought 
could not guard against. 



176 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON", 

With a party of men like those he had led 
several times against the Blackfeet, nothing 
could have persuaded him to turn back from 
any enterprise which he had undertaken, from 
a fear of hostile Indians. Of course he could 
not state his reason for his apprehensions even 
to his employer, because it would reflect upon 
his ability to arrange for such an enterprise, 
or his courage to conduct it to a successful ter- 
mination, neither of which he could doubt ; and 
it is therefore with something of regret we 
read in an official report, emanating from one 
who owed more to Kit Carson, of the fame and 
reputation so justly earned, than to any other 
living man, the assertion that Carson, stimu- 
lated by fear, made his will. The best contra- 
diction which can be affi)rded, is found in the 
fact, that notwithstanding his apprehensions, he 
did accompany the party, discharging with his 
usual zeal, ability, and fidelity, the duties which 
devolved upon him ; and we have yet to learn 
that Kit Carson ever shrunk from any danger. 

His reputation has, however, outlived this 
covert insinuation, and we presume that no 
man on this continent would hesitate to award 
to Kit Carson, the highest attributes of moral 
and physical courage. 

" During our stay here," says Fremont in 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CARSON. 177 

continuation, " the men had been engaged in 
making numerous repairs, arranging pack- 
saddles, and otherwise preparing for the 
chances of a rough road, and mountain travel, 
all of which Carson had superintended, urging 
upon the men that their comfort and their 
safety required it. All things of this nature 
being ready, I gathered them around me in the 
evening, and told them that ' I had determined 
to proceed the next day. They were all well 
armed. I had engaged the services of Mr. 
Bissonette as interpreter, and had taken, in 
the circumstances, every possible means to in- 
sure our safety. In the rumors we had heard, I 
believed there was much exageration, and then 
they were men accustomed to this kind of life, 
and to the country ; and that these were the 
dangers of every day occurrence, and to be ex- 
pected in the ordinary course of their service. 
They had heard of the unsettled condition of 
the country before leaving St. Louis, and there- 
fore could not make it a reason for breaking 
their engagements. Still, I was unwilling 
to take with me, on a service of some certain 
danger, men on whom I could not rely ; and 
as I had understood that there were among 
them some who were disposed to cowardice, 
and anxious to return, they had but to come 
12 



178 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

forward at once, and state their desire, and thoy 
would be discharged with the amount due to 
them for the time they had served." To their 
honor, be it said, there was but one among them 
who had the face to come forward and avail 
himself of the permission. I asked him some 
few questions, in order to expose him to the ridi- 
cule of the men, and let him go. The day after 
our departure, he engaged himself to one of 
the forts, and set off with a party to the Upper 
Missouri. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

As our explorers advanced, one of Ihe most 
prominent features of the country was the 
abundance of artemisia growing ever3^where, 
on the hills and in the river bottoms, in twisted 
wiry clumps, filling the air with the odor of 
mingled camphor and spirits of turpentine, 
and impeding the progress of the wagons out 
of the beaten track. 

They met a straggling party of the Indians 

which had followed the trail of the emigrants, 

and learned from them that multitudes of 

grasshoppers had consumed the grass upon the 

road, so that they had found no game, and 

were obliged to kill even their horses, to ward 

off starvation. Of course danger from these 

Indians was no longer to be apprehended, 

though the prospect was a gloomy one, but 

new courage seemed to inspire the party when 

the necessity of endurance seemed at hand. 

The party now followed Carson's advice, 

(179) 



180 LIFE OF CHKISTOPHER CARSON. 

given at Fort Laramie, to disencumber them- 
selves of all unnecessary articles, and accord- 
ingly they left their wagons, concealing them 
among low shrubbery, after they had taken 
them to pieces, and made a cache of such other 
effects as they could leave, among the sand heaps 
of the river bank, and then set to work to mend 
and arrange the pack saddles, and packs, the 
whole of which was superintended by Carson, 
and to him was now assigned the office of 
guide, as they had reached a section of the 
country, with a great part of which long resi- 
dence had made him familiar. Game was 
found in great abundance after they reached 
the river bottom, off the traveled road, both 
upon the Platte and after they crossed over 
the dwide to the Sweet Water. 

Speaking of the gorge where the Platte 
Kiver issues from the Black Hills, changing its 
character abruptly from a mountain stream to 
a river of the plain, Fremont says, " I visited 
this place with my favorite man, Basil Lajeu- 
nesse ;" and this extraordinary expression, left 
unexplained, would lead the casual reader to 
believe or think that Carson had lost the con- 
fidence of the official leader of the party. 

It has seemed to us, in reading Fremont's 
narrative of this first exDedition to the Rocky 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 181 

Mountains, that in view of some failures to 
achieve what was sought, and to avoid what 
was suffered, Carson's advice, given with a 
larger experience, and with less of impetuosity 
than that of the young Huguenot's, would, if 
followed, have secured different results, both 
for the comfort of the party, and the benefit 
of science ; and while those of like tempera- 
ment were chosen for companions by Lieuten- 
ant Fremont, it detracts nothing from his rep- 
utation for scientific analysis and skill, or for 
high courage, but only gives to Carson the de- 
served meed of praise to say, his was the hand 
that steadied the helm, and kept the vessel on 
her way, at times when, without his judgment, 
sagacity, and experience, it must have been se- 
riously damaged, if not destroyed ; and with 
this balance wheel, a part of his machinery, 
the variety of difiiculties that might have de- 
feated the scientific puri3ose of the expedition, 
or have made it the last Fremont would de- 
sire, or the Government care to have him un- 
dertake, were avoided ; and no one inquired to 
know the cause. 

It often happens that the quiet, simpler 
offices of life become imperative, and first 
duties, to one who feels that all the qualifica- 
tions fitting for more honorable place, are pos 



182 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

sessed by him, in much larger measure than 
by the occupant of the higher official position, 
— as men are wont to esteem it — and, as there 
is no explanation given, nor, by declaration, 
even the fact stated that this was true now in 
respect to Christopher Carson, we shall give 
no reason, further than to say, that the care of 
finding suitable places for camping, of seeing 
that the party were all in, and the animals 
properly cared for, their saddles in order, and 
the fastenings secure ; of finding game, and 
watching to see that the food is properly ex- 
pended, so that each supply shall last till i^ 
can be replenished ; of seeing that the general 
property of the party is properly guarded, and 
a variety of other matters, which pertain to 
the success of an enterprise like this, and 
witliout which it must be a failure, could not all 
be borne by Fremont; and while he had 
assigned to each his position in the labor of 
the camp, the place of general care-taker 
which comes not by apointment, fell naturally 
to the lot of Carson ; and such supervision wai 
cheerfully performed, though it brought no 
other reward than the satisfaction of knowing 
that the essential elements of success were not 
neglected. 
Shall we not then deem him worthy of all 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CARSON. 183 

praise for being content to occupy such a posi- 
tion ? Employed to guide the party, he had 
lioped to share the confidence of its leader, but 
the latter had already other friends, jealous of 
his attentions ; he had another hunter, jealous 
of his own reputation in his profession, and 
of his knowledge of the country ; then there 
were two youths in the party, one of whom 
wished to be amused, and both to be instructed ; 
and in becoming the general providence of the 
party, which is scarcely thought of, because it 
seems to come of itself, we find the reason why 
Fremont's first narrative shows Carson so 
little like the brave, bold hunter we have 
known him hitherto. We allude to two lads, 
one a son of the Hon. T. H. Benton, who ac- 
companied him out during a portion of his 
first expedition, and for whom it is evident he 
made many sacrifices. 

Bufi*alo were numerous, and they saw many 
tracks of the grizzly bear among the cherry 
trees and currant bushes that lined the river 
banks, while antelope bounded fitfully before 
them over the plains. 

But the reader is already familiar with this 
condition of things in the country, because the 
hero of cur story has been here before, and to 
apply the term explorer here to Fremont, and 



184 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOl^. 

CO call this an exploring expedition, seems 
farcical, only as we remember that there had 
not been yet any written scientific description 
of this region, so long familiar to the trappers, 
and to none more than Carson. 

They had now approached the road at what 
is called the South Pass. The ascent had been 
so gradual, that, with all the intimate know- 
ledge possessed by Carson, who had made this 
country his home for seventeen years, they 
were obliged to watch very closely to find the 
place at which they reached the culminating 
point. This was between two low hills, rising 
on either hand fifty or sixty feet. 

Approaching it from the mouth of the 
Sweet Water, a sandy plain, one hundred and 
twenty miles long, conducts, by a gradual and 
regular ascent, to the summit, about seven 
thousand feet above the sea ; and the traveler, 
without being reminded of any change by toil- 
some ascents, suddenly finds himself on the 
waters which flow to the Pacific ocean. By 
the route they had traveled, the distance from 
Port Laramie was three hundred and twenty 
miles, or nine hundred and fifty from the 
mouth of the Kansas. 

They continued on till they came to a tribu- 
tary of the Green River, and then followed 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 185 

tne stream up to a lake at its source in the 
mountains, and had here a view of extraordi- 
nary magnificence and grandeur, beyond what 
is seen in any part of the Alps, and here, he- 
side the placid lake, they left the mules, in- 
tending to ascend the mountains on foot, and 
measure the altitude of the highest point. 

Fremont had wished to make a circuit of a 
few miles in the mountains, and visit the 
sources of the four great streams, the Colorado, 
the Columbia, the Missouri, and the Platte, 
but game was scarce, and his men v/ere -not ac- 
customed to their entirely meat fare, and were 
discontented. 

With fifteen picked men, mounted on the 
best mules, was commenced the ascent of the 
mountains, and amid views of most romantic 
beauty, overlooking deep valleys with lakes 
nestled in them, surrounded by precipitous 
ridges, hundreds of feet high, they wound 
their way up to the summits of the ridges, to 
descend again, and plod along the valley of a 
little stream on the other side. 

For two days they continued upon their 
mules, through this magnificent region, when 
the peak appeared so near, it was decided to 
leave the mules beside a little lake, and pro- 
ceed on foot ; and as the day was warm, some 



186 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

of the party left their coats. But at night 
they had reached the limit of the piney region, 
when they were ten thousand feet above the 
waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and still the 
peak rose far above them, so that they camped 
without suffering, in a little green ravine, bor- 
dered with plants in bloom, and the next 
morning continued the ascent. Carson had led 
this day, and succeeded in reaching the sum- 
mit of a snowy peak, supposed to be the highest, 
but saw from it the one they had been seeking, 
towering eight hundred or a thousand feet 
above him. They now descended off the 
snow, and sent back for mules, and food, and 
blankets, and by a blazing fire all slept soundly 
until morning. 

Carson had understood that they had now 
done with the mountains, and by directions 
had gone at day break to the camp, taking 
with him all but four or five men, who were 
to remain with Fremont, and take back the 
mules and instruments. But after their de- 
parture, the programme was changed, and now 
understanding the topography of the country 
better, the party left, continued with the mules 
as far as possible, and then on foot, over 
chasms, leaping from point to point of crags, 
until they cajne, with extreme difficulty, in the 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 187 

intense cold and rarified air, to the height of 
the crest, and Fremont stood alone upon the 
pinnacle, and able to tell the story of this vic- 
tory of Science to the world. He had been 
sick the day before, and Carson could not urge 
the prosecution of the enterprise, to reach the 
highest point, when the leader of the expedi- 
tion was too ill to climb the summit, and there- 
fore had not objected to the arrangement of 
returning to the camp. 

But we have nothing more to say. The 
reader of the story, as Fremont tells it, wishes 
there Avere evidences of higher magnanimity, 
which are wanting. Carson finds no fault, 
seems to notice none. He performed faithfully 
the duty assigned to him, utters no complaint, 
but is content in carrying out a subordinate's 
first obligation, that of obeying orders. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Fremont succeeded, but not without mach 
danger and suffering, in reaching the highest 
peak of the Rocky Mountains, and waved over 
it his country's flag, in triumph. The return 
trip to Fort Laramie was not marked by any 
incident of special note, and Carson's services 
being no longer required, he left his com- 
mander here, and set out for 'New Mexico. In 
1843, he married a Spanish lady, and his time 
was occasionally employed by Messrs. Bent 
and St. Vrain, his old and tried friends. 

While thus engaged at Bent's Fort, he 
learjied that his old commander and friend 
had passed two days before, on another ex- 
ploring expedition, and being naturally anx- 
ious to see again one to whom he was so 
strongly attached, he started on his trail, and 
after following it for seventy miles, came up 
with him. The meeting was mutually pleas- 

iijg, but resulted quite contrary to Carson's 

(188) 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSOX. 189 

anticipations, for, instead of merely meeting 
and parting, Fremont, anxious to regain the ser- 
vices of one whose experience, judgment, and 
courage, had been so well tried, persuaded 
him to join this second expedition, and again 
we find him launched as guide and hunter. 

Carson was at once despatched to the fort with 
directions to procure a supply of mules which the 
party much needed, and to meet him with the 
animals at St. Yrain's Fort. This was accom- 
plished to Fremont's entire satisfaction. The 
object of this second exploration was to connect 
the survey of the previous year with those of 
Commander Wilkes on the Pacific coast, but 
Fremont's first destination was the Great Salt 
Lake, which has since become so famous in the 
annals of our country. 

Fremont's description of this journey, and 
of his passage across the lake in a frail India 
rubber boat, which threatened at every mo- 
ment destruction to the entire party, is so true 
to life, and so highly interesting, we quote it 
entire. The party reached, on the 21st of Au- 
gust, the Bear River, which was the principal 
tributary of the lake, and from this point we 
quote Fremont's words : 

" We were now entering a region, which for 
us, possessed a strange and extraordinary in- 



190 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON". 

terest. "We were upon the waters of the fa 
mous lake which forms a salient point among 
the remarkable geographical features of the 
country, and around which the vague and su- 
perstitious accounts of the trappers had thrown 
a delightful obscurity, which we anticipated 
pleasure in dispelling, but which, in the mean- 
time, left a crowded field for the exercise of our 
imagination. 

" In our occasional conversations with the few 
old hunters who had visited the region, it had 
been a subject of frequent speculation ; and the 
wonders which they related were not the less 
agreeable because they were highly exag- 
gerated and impossible. 

" Hitherto this lake had been seen only by 
trappers, who were wandering through the 
country in search of new beaver streams, car- 
ing very little for geography ; its islands had 
never been visited ; and none were to be found 
who had entirely made the circuit of its shores, 
and no instrumental observations, or geogra- 
phical survey of any description, had ever been 
made anywhere in the neighboring region. It 
was generally supposed that it had no visible 
outlet ; but, among the trappers, including 
those in my own camp, were many who be- 
lieved that somewhere on its surface was a ter- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOiq-. 191 

rible whirlpool, through which its waters found 
their way to the ocean by some subterranean 
communication. All these things had been made 
a frequent subject of discussion in our desultory 
conversations around the fires at night; and 
my own mind had become tolerably well filled 
with their indefinite pictures, and insensibly 
colored with their romantic descriptions, which, 
in the pleasure of excitement, I was well dis- 
posed to believe, and half expected to real- 
ize. 

"In about six miles' travel from our en- 
campment, we reached one of the points in our 
journey to which we had always looked for- 
ward with great interest — the famous Beer 
Springs, which, on account of the efi*ervescing 
gas and acid taste, had received their name 
from the voyageurs and trappers of the coun- 
try, who, in the midst of their rude and hard 
lives, are fond of finding some fancied resem- 
blance to the luxuries they rarely have the 
good fortune to enjoy. 

"Although somewhat disappointed in the 
expectations which various descriptions had led 
me to form of unusual beauty of situation and 
scenery, I found it altogether a place of very 
great interest ; and a traveler for the first time 
in a volcanic region remains in a constant ex- 



192 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSCIS'. 

citement, and at every step is arrested by 
something remarkable and new. There is a 
confusion of interesting objects gathered to- 
gether in a small space. Around the place of 
encampment tlie Beer Springs were numerous ; 
but, as far as we could ascertain, were entirely 
confined to that locality in the bottom. In the 
bed of the river, in front, for a space of several 
hundred yards, they were very abundant ; the 
effervescing gas rising up and agitating the 
water in countless bubbling columns. In the 
vicinity round about were numerous springs 
of an entirely different and equally marked 
mineral character. In a rather picturesque 
spot, about 1,300 yards below our encampment 
and immediately on the river bank, is the 
most remarkable spring of the place. In an 
opening on the rock, a white column of scat- 
tered water is thrown up, in form like a jet- 
d'eau^ to a variable height of about three feet, 
and, though it is maintained in a constant 
supply, its greatest height is attained only at 
regular intervals, according to the action of the 
force below. It is accompanied by a subterra- 
nean noise, which, together with the motion 
of the water, makes very much the impression 
of a steamboat in motion ; and, without know- 
ing that it had been already previously so 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 193 

called, we gave to it the name of the Steam- 
boat Spring. The rock through which it is 
forced is slightly raised in a convex manner, 
and gathered at the opening into an urn- 
mouthed form, and is evidently formed by 
continued deposition from the water, and col- 
ored bright red by oxide of iron. 

" It is a hot spring, and the water has a pun- 
gent, disagreeable metallic taste, leaving a 
burning effect on the tongue. Within perhaps 
two yards of the jet-d'eau, is a small hole of 
about an inch in diameter, through which, at 
regular intervals, escapes a blast of hot air 
with a light wreath of smoke, accompanied by 
a regular noise. 

" As they approached the lake, they passed 
over a country of bold and striking scenery, 
and through several ' gates,' as they called cer- 
tain narrow valleys. The ' standing rock' is a 
huge column, occupying the centre of one of 
these passes. It fell from a height of perhaps 
3,000 feet, and happened to remain in its 
present upright position. 

" At last, on the 6th of September, the ob- 
ject for which their eyes had long been strain- 
ing was brought to view. 

" Sejpt. 6. — This time we reached the butte 
without any difficulty; and, ascending to the 
13 



194 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOX. 

summit, immediately at our feet beheld the 
object of our anxious search, the waters of the 
Inland Sea, stretching in still and solitary 
grandeur far beyond the limit of our vision. 
It was one of the great points of the explora- 
tion ; and as we looked eagerly over the lake 
in the first emotions of excited pleasure, I am 
doubtful if the followers of Balboa felt more 
enthusiasm when, from the heights of the 
Andes, they saw for the first time the great 
Western Ocean. It was certainly a magnifi- 
cent object, and a noble terminus to this part 
of our expedition; and to travelers so long 
shut up among mountain ranges, a sudden 
view over the expanse of silent waters had in 
it something sublime. Several large islands 
raised their high rocky heads out of the waves ; 
but whether or not they were timbered was 
still left to our imagination, as the distance 
was too great to determine if the dark hues 
upon them were woodland or naked rock. 
During the day the clouds had been gathering 
black over the mountains to the westward, and 
while we were looking, a storm burst down 
with sudden fury upon the lake, and entirely 
hid the islands from our view. 

** On the edge of the stream a favorable spot 
\» xocted in a grove, and felling the timber, 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 195 

we made a strong corral^ or horse -pen, for the 
animals, and a little fort for the people wiio 
were to remain. We were now probably in 
the country of 'the Utah Indians, though none 
reside upon the lake. The India-rubber boat 
was repaired with prepared cloth and gum, 
and filled with air, in readiness for the next 
day. 

" The provisions which Carson had brought 
with him being now exhausted, and our stock 
reduced to a small quantity of roots, I deter- 
mined to retain with me only a sufficient num- 
ber of men for the execution of our design ; 
and accordingly seven were sent back to Fort 
Hall, under the guidance of Frangois Lajeu- 
.nesse, who, having been for many years a 
trapper in the country, was an experienced 
mountaineer. 

" We formed now but a small family. With 
Mr. Preuss and myself, Carson, Bernier, and 
Basil Lajeunesse had been selected for the 
boat expedition — the first ever attempted on 
this interior sea ; and Badau, with Derosier, 
and Jacob (the colored man), were to be left 
in charge of the camp. We were favored with 
most delightful weather. To-night there was 
a brilliant sunset of golden orange and green, 
which left the western sky clear and beauti 



196 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOK. 

fully pure ; but clouds in the east made me lose 
an occultation. The summer frogs were singing 
around us, and the evening was very pleasant, 
with a temperature of GO"" — a night of a more 
southern autumn. For our supper, we had 
yampah^ the most agreeably flavored of the roots, 
seasoned by a small fat duck, which had come 
in the Avay of Jacob's rifle. Around our fire 
to-night were many speculations on what to- 
morrow would bring forth ; and in our busy 
conjectures we fancied that we should find 
every one of the large islands a tangled wil- 
derness of trees and shrubbery, teeming with 
game of every description that the neighbor- 
ing region afibrded, and which the foot of a 
white man or Indian had never violated. Fre- 
quently, during the day, clouds had rested on 
the summits of their lofty mountains, and we 
believed that we should find clear streams and 
springs of fresh water; and we indulged in 
anticipations of the luxurious repasts with 
which we were to indemnify ourselves for past 
privations. JN'either, in our discussions, were 
the whirlpool and other mysterious dangers for- 
gotten, which Indian and hunters' stories attri- 
buted to this unexplored lake. The men had dis- 
covered that, instead of being strongly sewed, 
(like that of the preceding year, which had so tri- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CaRSON. 197 

umpliantly rode the canons of the Upper Great 
Platte,) our present boat was only pasted to- 
gether in a very insecure manner, the maker 
having been allowed so little time in the con- 
struction that he was obliged to crowd the 
labor of two months into several days. The 
insecurity of the boat was sensibly felt by us ; 
and mingled with the enthusiasm and excite- 
ment that we all felt at the prospect of an 
undertaking which had never before been ac- 
complished, was a certain impression of dan- 
ger, sufficient to give a serious character to our 
conversation. The momentary view which 
had been had of the lake the day before, its 
great extent, and rugged islands, dimly seen 
amidst the dark waters in the obscurity of the 
sudden storm, were well calculated to heighten 
the idea of undefined danger with which the 
lake was generally associated. 

" Sept. 8. — A calm, clear day, w^ith a sunrise 
temperature of 41°. In view of our present 
enterprise, a part of the equipment of the boat 
had been made to consist of three air-tight 
bags, about three feet long, and capable each 
of containing five gallons. These had been 
filled w4th water the night before, and were 
now placed in the boat, with our blankets and 



198 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSOl^. 

instruments, consisting of a sextant, telescope, 
spy-glass, thermometer, and barometer. 

" In the course of the morning we discovered 
that two of the cylinders leaked so much as to 
require one man constantly at the bellows, to 
keep them sufficiently full of air to support 
the boat. Although we had made a very 
early start, we loitered so much on the way — 
stopping every now and then, and floating si- 
lently along, to get a shot at a goose or a duck 
— that it was late in the day when we reached 
the outlet. The river here divided into seve- 
ral branches, filled with fiuvials, and so very 
shallow that it was with difficulty we could get 
the boat along, being obliged to get out and 
wade. We encamped on a low point among 
rushes and young willows, where there was a 
quantity of driftwood, which served for our fires 
The evening was mild and clear ; we made a 
pleasant bed of the young willows ; and geese 
and ducks enough had been killed for an abun- 
dant supper at night, and for breakfast next 
morning. The stillness of the night was en- 
livened by millions of water-fowl. 

^^Sept. 9. — The day was clear and calm ; the 
thermometer at sunrise at 49°. As is usual 
with the tr cappers on the eve of any enterprise, 
our people ^ad made dreams, and theirs hap- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEH CAESOTq". 199 

pened to be a bad one — one which always pre- 
ceded evil — and consequently they looked very 
gloomy this morning ; but we hurried through 
our breakfast, in order to make an early start, 
and have all the day before us for our adven- 
ture. The chaT>nel in a short distance became 
so shallow that our navigation was at an end, 
being merely a sheet of soft mud, with a few 
inches of water, and sometimes none at all, 
forming the low-water shore of the lake. All 
this place was absolutely covered with flocks of 
screaming plover. We took off our clothes, and, 
getting overboard, commenced dragging tln^ 
boat — making, by this operation, a very curi 
ous trail, and a very disagreeable smell in 
stirring up the mud, as we sank above the 
knee at every step. The water here was still 
fresh, with only an insipid and disagreeable 
taste, probably derived from the bed of fetid 
mud. After proceeding in this way about a 
a mile, we came to a small black ridge on the 
bottom, beyond which the water became sud- 
denly salt, beginning gradually to deepen, and 
the bottom was sandy and firm. It was a re- 
markable division, separating the fresh water 
(»f the rivers from the briny water of the lake, 
which was entirely sa^z^r^ i^^^ with common salt. 
Pushing our little vessel across the narrow 



200 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSOT^. 

boundary, we sprang on board, and at length 
were afloat on the waters of the unknown 
sea. 

"We did not steer for the mountainous 
islands, but directed our course towards a 
lower one, which it had been decided we should 
first visit, the summit of which was formed 
like the crater at the upper end of Bear River 
valley. So long as we could touch the bottom 
with our paddles, we were very gay ; but grad- 
ually, as the water deepened, we became more 
still in our frail batteau of gum cloth distended 
with air, and with pasted seams. Although 
the day was very calm, there was a consider- 
able swell on the lake ; and there were white 
patches of foam on the surface, which were 
slowly moving to the southward, indicating the 
set of a current in that direction, and recalling 
the recollection of the whirlpool stories. The 
water continued to deepen as we advanced; 
the lake becoming almost transparently clear, 
of an extremely beautiful bright green color ; 
and the spray, which was thrown into the boat 
and over our clothes, was directly converted 
into a crust of common salt, which covered 
also our hands and arms. ' Captain,' said Car- 
son, who for some time had been looking sus- 
piciously at some whitening appearances out- 



T.IFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOT^. 201 

side the nearest islands, ' what are those yon- 
der? — won't you just take a look with tho 
glass?' We ceased paddling for a moment, 
and found them to be the caps of the waves 
that were beginning to break under the force 
of a strong breeze that was coming up the 
lake. The form of the boat seemed to be an 
admirable one, and it rode on the waves like a 
water bird ; but, at the same time, it was ex- 
tremely slow in its progress. When we were 
a little more than half away across the reach, 
two of the divisions between the cylinders 
gave way, and it required the constant use of 
the bellows to keep in a sufficient quantity of 
air. For a long time we scarcely seemed to 
approach our island, but gradually we worked 
across the rougher sea of the open channel, 
into the smoother water under the lee of the 
island, and began to discover that what we 
took for a long row of pelicans, ranged on the 
beach, were only low cliffs whitened with salt 
by the spray of the waves ; and about noon 
we reached the shore, the transparency of the 
water enabling us to see the bottom at a con- 
siderable depth. 

" The cliffs and masses of rock along the 
shore were whitened by an incrustation of salt 
where the waves dashed up against them ; and 



202 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

the evaporating water, which had been left m 
holes and hollows on the surface of the rocks, 
was covered with a crust of salt about ore- 
eighth of an inch in thickness. 

" Carrying with us the barometer and other 
instruments, in the afternoon we ascended to 
the highest j)oint of the island — a bare, rocky 
peak, 800 feet above the lake. Standing on 
the summit, we enjoyed an extended view of 
the lake, inclosed in a basin of rugged moun- 
tains, which sometimes left marshy flats and 
extensive bottoms between them and the shore, 
and in other places came directly down into 
the water with bold and precipitous bluffs. 

"As we looked over the vast expanse of 
water spread out beneath us, and strained our 
eyes along the silent shores over which hung 
so much doubt and uncertainty, and which 
were so full of interest to us, I could hardly 
repress the almost irresistible desire to con- 
tinue our exploration; but the lengthening 
snow on the mountains was a plain indication 
of the advancing season, and our frail linen 
boat appeared so insecure that I was unwilling 
to trust our lives to the uncertainties of the 
lake. I therefore unwillingly resolved to ter- 
minate our survey here, and remain satisfied for 
the present with what we had been able to add 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 203 

to the unknown geography of the region. We 
felt pleasure also in remembering that we were 
the first who, in the traditionary annals of the 
country, had visited the islands, and broken, 
with the cheerful sound of human voices, the 
long solitude of the place. 

^' I accidentally left on the summit the brass 
cover to the object end of my spy-glass ; and 
as it will probably remain there undisturbed 
by Indians, it will furnish matter of specula- 
tion to some future traveler. In our excur- 
sions about the island, we did not meet with 
any kind of animal ; a magpie, and another 
larger bird, probably attracted by the smoke 
of our fire, paid us a visit from the shore, and 
were the only living things seen during our 
stay. The rock constituting the clifi^s along 
the shore where we were encamped, is a tal- 
cous rock, or steatite, with brown spar. 

" At sunset, the temperature was 70°. We 
had arrived just in time to obtain a meridian 
altitude of the sun, and other observations 
were obtained this evening, which place our 
camp in latitude 41° 10' 42', and longitude 
112° 2V 05" from Greenwich. From a discus- 
sion of the barometrical observations made 
during our stay on the shores of the lake, we 
have adopted 4,200 feet for its elevation above 



204 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

the Gulf of Mexico. In the first disappoint- 
ment we felt from the dissipation of our dream 
of the fertile islands, I called this Disappoint- 
ment Island. 

"Out of the driftwood, we made ourselves 
pleasant little lodges, open to the water, and, 
after having kindled large fires to excite the 
wonder of any straggling savage on the lake 
shores, lay down, for the first time in a long 
journey, in perfect security ; no one thinking 
about his arms. The evening was extremely 
bright and pleasant ; but the wind rose during 
the night, and the waves began to break hea- 
vily on the shore, making our Island tremble. 
I had not expected in our inland journey to 
hear the roar of an ocean surf; and the 
strangeness of our situation, and the excite- 
ment we felt in the associated interests of the 
place, made this one of the most interesting 
nights I remember during our long expedi- 
tion. 

"In the morning, the surf was breaking 
heavily )n the shore, and we were up early. 
The lake was dark and agitated, and we hur- 
ried through our scanty breakfast, and em- 
barked — having first filled one of the buckets 
with water from which it was intended to make 
salt. The sun had risen by the time we were 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON 205 

ready to start ; and it was blowing a strong 
gale of wind, almost directly off the shore, and 
raising a considerable sea, in which our boat 
strained very much. It roughened as we got 
away from the island, and it required all the 
efforts of the men to make any head against 
the wind and sea; the gale rising with the 
sun ; and there was danger of being blown into 
one of the open reaches beyond the island. 
At the distance of half a mile from the beach, 
the depth of water was sixteen feet, with a clay 
bottom ; but, as the working of the boat was 
very severe labor, and during the operation of 
sounding, it was necessary to cease paddling, 
during which, the boat lost considerable way, 
I was unwilling to discourage the men, and 
reluctantly gave up my intention of ascertain- 
ing the depth and character of the bed. There 
was a general shout in the boat when we found 
ourselves in one fathom, and we soon after 
landed on a low point of mud, where we un- 
loaded the boat, and carried the baggage to 
firmer ground." 

Roughly evaporated over the fire, the five 
gallons of water from this lake yielded four- 
teen pints of very fine-grained and very white 
salt, of which the whole lake may be regarded 
as a saturated solution. 



206 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

On the 12th they resumed their journey, re- 
lurning by the same route, and at night had a 
supper of sea gulls,' which Carson killed near 
the lake. 

The next day they continued up the river, 
hunger making them very quiet and peaceable ; 
and there was rarely an oath to be heard in 
the camp — not even a solitary enfant de garce 
It was time for the men with an expected sup- 
ply of provisions from Fitzpatrick to be in 
the neighborhood ; and the gun was fired at 
evening, to give notice of their locality, but 
met with no response. 

They killed to-day a fat young horse, 
purchased from the Indians, and were very 
soon restored to gaiety and good humor. 
Fremont and Mr. Preuss, not having yet 
overcome the prejudices of civilization, did 
not partake, preferring to turn in supper- 
less. 

The large number of emigrants constantly 
encamping here, had driven the game into the 
mountains, so that not an elk or antelope was 
seen upon the route ; but an antelope was pur- 
chased from an Indian, for a little powder and 
some ball, and they camped early to enjoy an 
abundant supper; which, while not yet pre 
pared, was interrupted by the arrival of a 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHEK CARSON. 207 

trapper, who startled and rejoiced all by an- 
nouncing the glad news, that Mr. Fitzpatrick 
was in camp a little way from them, with a 
plentiful supply of proYisions, flour, r'^e, dried 
meat, and even butter. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The difficulty, in view of the approaching 
winter season, of supporting a large party, de- 
termined Fremont to send back a number of 
the men who had become satisfied that they 
were not fitted for the laborious service and 
frequent privation to which they were necessa- 
rily exposed, and which there was reason to 
believe would become more severe in the 
further extension of the voyage. They were 
accordingly called together, and after being 
fully informed as to the nature of the duties 
imposed upon them, and the hardships they 
would have to undergo, eleven of the party 
consented to abandon Fremont, and return ; 
but Carson was not one of these. 

Taking leave of the homeward party, they 

resumed their journey down the valley, the 

weather being very cold, and the rain coming 

in hard gusts, which the wind blew directly in 

their faces. They forded the Portneuf in a storm 
(208) 



LIFE OF CHKISTOPHER CARSON. 209 

of rain, llie water in the river being frequently 
up to the axles. 

Fremont in his official report thus enum- 
erates some of the difficulties and sufferings 
the party had to encounter : 

" Seidemher 27. — It was now no longer pos- 
sible, as in our previous journey, to travel reg- 
ularly every day, and find at any moment a 
convenient place for repose at noon, or a camp 
at night; but the halting places were now 
generally fixed along the road, by the nature 
of the country, at places where, with water, 
there was a little scanty grass. Since leaving 
the American falls, the road had frequently 
been very bad ; the many short, steep ascents 
exhausting the strength of our worn out ani- 
mals, requiring always at such places the assis- 
tance of the men to get up each cart, one by 
one ; and our progress with twelve or fourteen 
wheeled carriages, though light and made for 
the purpose, in such a rocky country, was ex- 
tremely slow. 

" Carson had met here three or four buffalo 
bulls, two of which were killed. They were 
among the pioneers which had made the exper- 
im(?nt of colonizing in the valley of the Co- 
lumbia. 

" Opposite to the encampment, a subterra- 
14 



210 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEJI JAKSOJf. 

nean river bursts out directly from the face of 
the escarpment, and falls in white foam to the 
river below. The main river is enclosed with 
mural precipices, which form its characteristic 
feature, along a great portion of its course. A 
m»?lancholy and strange-looking country — one 
of fracture, and violence, and fire. 

'* We had brought with us, when we sepa- 
rated from the camp, a large gaunt ox, in ap- 
pearance very poor. ; but, being killed to-night, 
to the great joy of the j)eople, he was found to 
be remarkably fat. As usual at such occur- 
rences, the evening was devoted to gaiety and 
feasting; abundant fare now made an epoch 
among us ; and in this laborious life, in such a 
country as this, our men had but little else to 
enjoy." 

On arriving at the ford where the road 
crosses to the right bank of Snake River, an 
Indian was hired to conduct them through the 
ford, which proved impracticable; the water 
sweeping away the howitzer and nearly drown- 
ing the mules. Fortunately they had a re- 
source in a boat, which was filled with air and 
launched ; and at seven o'clock were safely en- 
camped on the opposite bank, the animals 
Bwimming across, and the carriage, howitzer, 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON 211 

and baggage of the camp being carried over in 
the boat. 

It was while at Fort Boise where Fremont 
first met Mons. Payette, an employee of the 
Hudson Bay Co., that he came across the 
" Fish-eating Indians," a class lower if possible 
in the scale of humanity than the '* Diggers." 
He says : 

*' Many little accounts and scattered histo- 
ries, together with an acquaintance which I 
gradually acquired of their modes of life, had 
left the aboriginal inhabitants of this vast 
region pictured in my mind as a race of people 
whose great and constant occupation was the 
means of procuring a subsistence. 

" While the summer weather and the salmon 
lasted, they lived contentedly and happily, 
scattered along the different streams where 
the fish were to be found ; and as soon as the 
winter snows began to fall, little smokes would 
be seen rising among the mountains, where 
they would be found in miserable groups, 
starving out the winter ; and sometimes, ac- 
cording to the general belief, reduced to the 
horror of cannibalism — the strong, of course, 
preying on the weak. Certain it is, they are 
driven to an extremity for food, and eat every 
insect, and every creeping thing, however 



212 LIFE OF CHRISTCPHER CARSON. 

loathsome and repulsive. Snails, lizards, ants 
— all are devoured with the readiness and 
greediness of mere animals." 

The remainder of the overland journey, 
until they reached Kez Perc6, one of the trad- 
ing establishments of the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany, was not marked by any incident bring- 
ing Carson into special notice. 

Having now comi^leted the connection of 
his explorations with those of Commander 
Wilkes, and which was the limit of his in- 
structions, Fremont commenced preparations 
for his return, Carson being left at the Dalles 
with directions to occupy the people in making 
pack-saddles, and refitting the equippage; 
while Fremont continued his journey to the 
Mission, a few miles down the Columbia River, 
where he passed a few days in comparative 
luxury. 

The few days of rest, added to an abundance 
of wholesome food, had so far recruited the 
party, that they were soon prepared to encoun- 
ter and conquer the difficulties of this overland 
journey in mid- winter. Three principal ob- 
jects were indicated by Fremont for explora- 
tion and research, and which, despite the ob- 
stacles which the season must so surely inter 
pose, he had determined to visit. 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOIS-. 213 

The first of these points was the Tlamath 
Lake, on the table-land between the head of 
Fall River, which comes to the Columbia, and 
the Sacramento, which goes to the bay of San 
Francisco ; and from which lake a river of the 
same name makes its way westwardly direct to 
the ocean. 

From this lake their course was intended to 
be about southeast, to a reported lake called 
Mary's, at some days' journey in the Great 
Basin ; and thence, still on southeast, to the 
reputed Buenaventura River, which has had a 
place in so many maps, and countenanced the 
belief of the existence of a great river flowing 
from the Rocky Mountains to the Bay of San 
Francisco. From the Buenaventura, the next 
point was intended to be in that section of the 
Rocky Mountains which includes the heads of 
Arkansas River, and of the opposite waters of 
the Californian Gulf; and thence down the 
Arkansas to Bent's Fort, and home. This 
was the projected line of return — a great part of 
it absolutely new to geographical, botanical, and 
geological science — and the subject of reports 
in relation to lakes, rivers, deserts, and sa- 
vages, hardly above the condition of mere wild 
animals, which inflamed desire to know what 
this terra incognita really contained 



214 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOX. 

It was a serious enterprise at the commence- 
ment of winter to undertake the traverse of 
such a region, and with a party consisting 
only of twenty-five persons, and they of many 
nations — American, French, German, Cana- 
dian, Indian, and colored — and most of them 
young, several being under twenty-one years 
of age. All knew that a strange country was 
to be explored, and dangers and hardships to 
be encountered; but no one blenched at the 
prospect. On the contrary, courage and con- 
fidence animated the whole party. Cheerful- 
ness, readiness, subordination, prompt obedi- 
ence, characterized all ; nor did any extremity 
of peril and privation, to which they were after- 
wards exposed, ever belie, or derogate from, 
the fine spirit of this brave and generous com- 
men(5eraent. 

For the support of the party, he had pro- 
vided at Vancouver a supply of provisions for 
not less than three months, consisting princi- 
pally of flour, peas, and tallow — the latter 
being used in cooking; and, in addition to 
this, they had purchased at the mission, some 
California cattle, which were to be driven on 
the hoof. They had one hundred and four 
mules and horses — part of the latter procured 
from the Indians about the mission ; and for 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 215 

the sustenance of which, their reliance was 
upon the grass which might be found, and the 
soft porous wood, which was to be substituted 
when there was no grass. 

Mr. Fitzpatrick, with Mr. Talbot and the 
remainder of the party, arrived on the 21st ; 
%nd the camp was now closely engaged in the 
labor of preparation. Mr. Perkins succeeded 
in obtaining as a guide, to the Tlamath Lake, 
two Indians — one of whom had been there, 
and bore the marks of several wounds he had 
received from some of the Indians in the 
neighborhood, 

Tlamath Lake, however, on examination, 
proved to be simply a shallow basin, which, 
for a short period at the time of melting snows, 
is covered with water from the neighboring 
mountains; but this probably soon runs off, 
and leaves for the remainder of the year a 
green savannah, through the midst of which, 
the river Tlamath, which flows to the ocean, 
winds its way to the outlet on the southwestern 
side. 

After leaving Tlamath Lake the part} 
headed for Mary's Lake, which, however, 
after incredible sufferings and hardships, they 
failed to discover, but they found one which 
was appropriately christened " Pyramid Lake," 



216 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEE CARSOI^. 

and here the record of toils, dangers and suf 
ferings, undergone by the whole party, can 
only be told in the language of him, who 
cheerfully toiled and suffered with those under 
his command, and it is not too much to say, 
that with the exce]3tion of the " Strain ex- 
pedition," across the Isthmus of Darien, no 
party of men have ever lived to narrate such 
sad experiences. We therefore let Fremont. 
in his own modest way, tell the tale of his own 
and his ccripinions' sufferings. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

" January 3. — ^A fog, so dense that we could 
not see a hundred yards, covered the country, 
and the men that were sent out after the horses 
were bewildered and lost ; and we were conse- 
quently detained at camp until late in the day. 
Our situation had now become a serious one. 
We had reached and run over the position 
where, according to the best maps in my pos- 
session, we should have found Mary's Lake or 
river. We were evidently on the verge of the 
desert which had been reported to us ; and the 
appearance of the country was so forbidding, 
that I was afraid to enter it, and determined to 
bear away to the southward, keeping close 
along the mountains, in the full expectation of 
reaching the Buenaventura River. This morn- 
ing I put every man in the camp on foot — my- 
self, of course, among the rest — and in this 
manner lightened by distribution the loads of 

the animals. 

(217) 



218 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOJ^. 

" January 4. — The fog to-day was still more 
dense, and the people again were bewildered. 
We traveled a few miles around the western 
point of the ridge, and encamped where there 
were a few tufts of grass, but no water. Our 
animals now were in a very alarming state, 
and there was increasing anxiety in the camp. 

" January 5. — Same dense fog continued, 
and one of the mules died in camp this morn- 
ing. We moved to a place where there was a 
little better grass, about two miles distant. 
Taplin, one of our best men, who had gone out 
on a scouting excursion, ascended a mountain 
near by, and to his great sur]3rise emerged into 
a region of bright sunshine, in which the upper 
parts of the mountain were glowing, while 
below all was obscured in the darkest fog. 

" January 6. — The fog continued the same, 
and with Mr. Preuss and Carson, I ascended 
the mountain, to sketch the leading features of 
the country, as some indication of our future 
route, while Mr. Fitzpatrick explored the 
country below. In a very short distance we 
had ascended above the mist, but the view ob- 
tained was not very gratifying. The fog had 
partially cleared off from below when we 
reached the summit; and in the south-west 
corner of a basin communicating with that in 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 219 

which we had encamped, we saw a lofty column 
of smoke, 16 miles distant, indicating the 
presence of hot springs. There, also, appeared 
to be the outlet of those draining channels of 
the country ; and, as such places afforded al- 
ways more or less grass, I determined to steer 
in that direction. The ridge we had ascended 
appeared to be composed of fragments of white 
granite. We saw here traces of sheep and 
antelope. 

" Entering the neighboring valley, and 
crossing the bed of another lake, after a hard 
day's travel over ground of yielding mud and 
sand, we reached the springs, where we found 
an abundance of grass, which, though only 
tolerably good, made this place, with reference 
to the past, a refreshing and agreeable spot. 

" This is the most extraordinary locality of 
hot springs w^e had met during the journey. 
The basin of the largest one has a circumfer- 
ence of several hundred feet ; but there is at 
one extremity a circular space of about fifteen 
feet in diameter, entirely occupied by the boil- 
ing water. It boils up at irregular intervals, 
and with much noise. The water is clear, and 
the spring deep ; a pole about sixteen feet long 
was easily immersed in the centre, but we 



220 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

had no means of forming a good idea of tLc' 
depth. 

"Takinp^ with me Godev and Carson, I 
made to-day a thorough exploration of the 
neighboring valleys, and found in a ravine in 
the bordering mountains a good campihg 
place, where was water in springs, and a suf- 
€cient quantity of grass for a night. Oversha- 
dowing the springs were some trees of the 
sweet cotton-wood, which, after a long int^^^val 
of absence, we saw again with pleasure, re- 
garding them as harbingers of a better coun- 
try. To us, they were eloquent of green prai- 
ries and buffalo. We found here a broad and 
plainly marked trail, on which there were tracks 
of horses, and we appeared to have regained 
one of the thoroughfares which pass by the 
watering places of the country. On the west- 
ern mountains of the valley, with which this 
of the boiling spring communicates, we re- 
marked scattered cedars — probably an indica- 
tion that we were on the borders of the tim- 
bered region extending to the Pacific. We 
reached the camp at sunset, after a day's ride 
of about forty miles. 

" January 10. — We continued our reconnois- 
sance ahead, pursuing a south direction in the 
basin along the ridge; the camp following 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 221 

fcilowly after. On a large trail there is never 
any doubt of finding suitable places for en- 
campments. We reached the end of the basin, 
where we found, in a hollow of the mountain 
which enclosed it, an abundance of good bunch 
grass. Leaving a signal for the party to en- 
camp, we con'.iiued our way up the hollow, 
intending to see what lay beyond the moun- 
tain. The hollow was several miles lon^:, 
forming a good pass, the snow deepening to 
about a foot as we neared the summit. Be- 
yond, a defile between the mountains descended 
rapidly about two thousand feet ; and, filling 
up all the lower space, was a sheet of green 
water, some twenty males broad. It broke 
upon our eyes like the ocean. The neighbor- 
ing peaks rose high above us, and we ascended 
one of them to obtain a better view. The 
waves were curling in the breeze, and their 
dark-green color showed it to be a body of 
deep water. For a long time we sat enjoying 
the view, for we had become fatigued with 
mountains, and the free expanse of moving 
waves was very grateful. It was set like a 
gem in the mountains, which, from our posi- 
tion, seemed to enclose it almost entirely. At 
the western end it communicated with the 
line of basins we had left a few days since; 



222 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOX. 

and on the opposite side it swept a ridge of 
snowy mountains, the foot of the great Sierra. 
Its position at first inclined us to believe 
it Mary's Lake, but the rugged mountains 
were so entirely discordant with descriptions 
of its low rushy shores and jpen country, that 
we concluded it some unknowi. body of water ; 
which it afterwards proved to be. 

" We saw before us, in descending from the 
pass, a great continuous range, along which 
stretched the valley of the river; the lower 
parts steep, and dark with pines, while above 
it was hidden in clouds of snow. This, we felt 
instantly satisfied was the central ridge of the 
Sierra Nevada, the great California mountain^ 
which only now intervened between us and 
the waters of the bay. We had made a forced 
march of 26 miles, and three mules had given 
out on the road. Up to this point, with the 
exception of two stolen by Indians, we had 
lost none of the horses which had been brought 
from the Columbia river, and a number of 
these were still strong and in tolerably good 
order. We had now sixty-seven animals in 
the band. 

*' We had scarcely lighted our fires, when the 
camp was crowded with nearly naked Indians. 
There were two who appeared particularly in- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARS01S-. 223 

telligent — one, a somewhat old man. He told 
me tliat, before the snows fell, it was six sleeps 
to the place where the whites lived, but that 
now it was impossible to cross the mountain on 
account of the deep snow ; and showing us, as 
the others had done, that it was over our 
heads, he urged us strongly to follow tho 
course of the river, which he said would con- 
duct us to a lake in which there were many 
large fish. There, he said, were many people; 
there was no snow on the ground; and we 
might remain there until spring. From their 
descriptions, we were enabled to judge that we 
had encamped on the upper water of the Sal- 
mon-trout River. It is hardly necessary to 
say that our communication was only by signs, 
as we understood nothing of their language ; 
but they spoke, notwithstanding, rapidly and 
vehem'ently, explaining what they considered 
the folly of our intentions, and urging us to go 
down to the lake. Tah-ve^ a word signifying 
snow, we very soon learned to know, from its 
frequent repetition. I told him that the men 
and the horses were strong, and that we would 
break a road through the snow ; and spreading 
before him our bales of scarlet cloth, and trink- 
ets, showed him what we would give for a 
guide. It was necessary to obtain one, if pos- 



224 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

sible ; for I had determined here to attempt 
the passage of the mountain. Pulling a bunch 
of grass from the ground, after a short discus- 
sion among themselves, the old man made us 
comprehend, that if we could break through 
the snow, at the end of three days we would 
come down upon grass, which he showed 
us would be about six inches high, and where 
the ground was entirely free. So far he said 
he had been in hunting for elk ; but beyond 
that (and he closed his eyes) he had seen noth- 
ing ; but there was one among them who had 
been to the whites, and, going out of the lodge, 
he returned with a young man of very intelli- 
gent appearance. Here, said he, is a young 
man who has seen the whites with his own 
eyes ; and he swore, first by the sky, and then 
by the ground, that what he said was true. 
With a large present of goods, we prevailed 
jupon this young man to be our guide, and he 
Required among us the name Melo — a word 
signifying friend, which they used very fre- 
quently. He was thinly clad, and nearly bare- 
foot ; his moccasins being about worn out. We 
gave him skins to make a new pair, and to en- 
able him to perform his undertaking to us. 
The Indians remained in camp during the 
ni^-ht, and we kept the guide and two others 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CAESON. 225 

to sleep in the lodge with us — Carson lying 
across the door, and having made them com 
prohond the use of our fire-arms." 

Fremont here, after a consultation with some 
Indians who came into his camp, made up his 
mind to attempt the passage of the mountains 
at every hazard. He therefore, to quote his 
own words, called his men together, and " re- 
minded them of the beautiful valley of the 
Sacramento, with which they were familiar 
from the descriptions of Carson, who had been 
there some fifteen years ago, and who, in our 
late privations, had delighted us in speaking 
of its rich pastures and abounding game, and 
drew a vivid contrast between its summer 
climate, less than a hundred miles distant, and 
the falling snow around us. I informed them 
(and long experience had given them confi- 
dence in my observations and good instru- 
ments) that almost directly west, and only 
about seventy miles distant, was the great 
farming establishment of Captain Sutter — a 
gentleman who had formerly lived in Missouri, 
and, emigrating to this country, had become 
the possessor of a principality. I assured them- 
that, from the heights of the mountain before 
us, we should doubtless see the valley of the 

Sacramento River, and with one efibrt place 
15 



226 LIFE OF OIIRISTOrHER CARSON. 

ourselves again in the midst of plenty. The 
people received this decision with the cheerful 
obedience which had always characterized 
them ; and the day was immediately devoted 
to the preparations necessary to enable us to 
carry it into effect. Leggins, moccasins, cloth- 
ing — all were put into the best state to resist 
the cold. Our guide was not neglected. Ex- 
tremity of suffering might make him desert ; 
we therefore did the best we could for him. 
Leggins, moccasins, some articles of clothing, 
and a large green blanket, in addition to the 
blue and scarlet cloth, were lavished upon him, 
and to his great and evident contentment. He 
arrayed himself in all his colors ; and, clad in 
green, blue, and scarlet, he made a gay-looking 
Indian ; and, with his various presents, was 
probably richer and better clothed than any of 
his tribe had ever been before. 

" I have already said that our provisions 
were very low; we had neither tallow nor 
grease of any kind remaining, and the want 
of salt became one of our greatest privations. 
The poor dog which had been found in the 
Boar River valley, and which had been a 
comj)agnon de voyage ever since, had now be- 
come fat, and the mess to which it belonged 
requested permission to kill it. Leave was 



LIFE OF CHETSTOPHEK CAKSOK. 227 

granted. Spread out on the snow, tlie meat 
looked very good ; and it made a strengthen- 
ing meal for the greater part of the camp. 

" The people were unusually silent ; for 
every man knew that our enterprise was haz- 
ardous, and the issue doubtful. 

"The snow deepened rapidly, and it soon be- 
came necessary to break a road. For this ser- 
vice, a party of ten was formed, mounted on 
the strongest horses ; each man in succession 
opening the road on foot, or on horseback, 
until himself and his horse became fatigued, 
when he stepped aside ; and, the remaining 
number passing ahead, he took his station in 
the rear. 

" The camp had been all the day occupied in 
endeavoring to ascend the hill, but only the 
best horses had succeeded ; the animals, gener- 
ally, not having sufficient strength to bring 
themselves up without the packs ; and all the 
line of road between this and the springs was 
strewed with camp stores and equipage, and 
horses floundering in snow. I therefore imme- 
diately encamped on the ground with my own 
mess, which was in advance, and directed Mr. 
Fitzpatrick to encamp at the springs, and send 
all the animals, in charge of Tabeau, with a 
strong guard, back to the place where they had 



228 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

been pastured the night before. Here w dS 
a small spot of level ground, protected on 
one side by the mountain, and on the other 
sheltered bv a little rido-e of rock. It was an 
open grove of pines, which assimilated in size 
to the grandeur of the mountain, being fre- 
quently six feet in diameter. 

" To-night we had no shelter, but we made d 
large fire around the trunk of one of the huge 
pines ; and covering the snow w^ith small 
boughs, on which we spread our blankets, soon 
made ourselves comfortable. The night was 
very bright and clear, though the thermometer 
was only at 10°. A strong wind which sprang 
up at sundown, made it intensely cold ; and 
this was one of the bitterest nights during the 
journey. 

*' Two Indians joined our party here ; and 
one of them, an old man, immediately began 
to harangue us, saying that ourselves and ani- 
mals would perish in the snow ; and that, if we 
would go back, he would show us another and 
a better way across the mountain. He spoke 
in a very loud voice, and there w^as a singular 
repetition of phrases and arrangement of 
words, which rendered his speech striking, and 
not unmusical. 

*'We had now begun to understand some 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 229 

words, and, with the aid of signs, easily com- 
prehended the okl man's simple ideas. ' Rock 
upon rock — rock upon rock — snow upon snow 
— snow upon snow,' said he ; * even if you get 
over the snow, you will not be able to get 
down from the mountains.' He made us the 
sign of precipices, and showed us how the feet 
of the horses would slip, and throw them off 
from the narrow trails which led along their 
sides. Our Chinook, who comprehended even 
more readilv than ourselves, and believed our 
situation hopeless, covered his head with his 
blanket, and began to weep and lament. ' I 
wanted to see the whites,' said he ; * I came 
away from my own people to see the whites, 
and I wouldn't care to die among them ; but 
here' — and he looked around into the cold 
night and gloomy forest, and, drawing his 
blanket over his head, began again to lament. 

" Seated around the tree, the fire illumina- 
ting the rocks and the tall bolls of the pines 
round about, and the old Indian haranguing, 
we presented a group of very serious faces. 

" February 5. — The night had been too cold 
to sleep, and we were up very early. Our 
guide was standing by the fire with all his 
finery on ; and seeing him shiver in the cold, I 
threw on his shoulders one of my blankets. 



230 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

We missed liim a few minutes afterwards, and 
never saw liim again. He had deserted. His 
bad faith and treachery were in perfect keeping 
with the estimate of Indian character, which a 
long intercourse with this people had grad- 
ually forced upon my mind. 

" While a portion of the camp were occupied 
in bringing up the baggage to this point, the 
remainder were busied in making sledges and 
snow shoes. I had determined to explore the 
mountain ahead, and the sledges were to be 
used in transporting the baggage. 

"Crossing the open basin, in a march of 
about ten miles we reached the top of one 
of the peaks, to the left of the pass indi- 
cated by our guide. Far below us, dimmed 
by the distance, was a large, snowless valley, 
bounded on the western side, at the distance 
of about a hundred miles, by a low range of 
mountains, which Carson recognized with de- 
light as the mountains bordering the coast. 
* There,' said he, ' is the little mountain — it is 
fifteen years ago since I saw it ; but I am just as 
sure as if I had seen it yesterday.' Between 
us, then, and this low coast range, was the 
valley of the Sacramento ; and no one who had 
not accompanied us through the incidents of 
our life for the last few months, could realize 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CAKSON. 231 

the delight with which at last we looked down 
upon it. At the distance of apparently thirty 
miles beyond us were distinguished spots of 
prairie ; and a dark line, which could be traced 
with the glass, was imagined to be the course 
of the river ; but we were evidently at a great 
height above the valley, and between us and 
the plains extended miles of snowy fields and 
broken ridges of pine-covered mountains. 

" It was late in the day when we turned 
towards the camp ; and it grew rapidly cold 
as it drew towards night. One of the men be- 
came fatigued, and his feet began to freeze, 
and building a fire in the trunk of a dry old 
cedar, Mr. Fitz]3atrick remained with him 
until his clothes could be dried, and he was in 
a condition to come on. After a day's march 
of twenty miles, we straggled into camp, one 
after another, at nightfall ; the greater number 
excessively fatigued, only two of the party 
having ever traveled on snow-shoes before. 

*'A11 our energies were now directed to getting 
our animals across the snow ; and it was sup- 
posed that, after all the baggage had been drawn 
with the sleighs over the trail we had made, it 
would be sufficiently hard to bear our animals. 

"At several places, between this point and the 
ridge, we had discovered some grassy spots, 



232 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

where the wind and sun had dispersed the snow 
from the sides of the hills, and these were to 
form resting places to support the animals for 
a night in their passage across. On our way 
across, we had set on fire several broken stumj)s 
and dried trees, to melt holes in the snow for 
the camp. Its general depth was five feet ; but 
we passed over places where it was twenty feet 
deep, as shown by the trees. 

" With one party drawing sleighs loaded 
with baggage, I advanced to-day about four 
miles along the trail, and encamped at the first 
grassy spot, where we expected to bring our 
horses. Mr. Fitzpatrick, with another party, 
remained behind, to form an intermediate sta- 
tion between us and the animals. 

" Putting on our snow-shoes, we spent the 
afternoon in exploring a road ahead. The 
glare of the snow, combined with great fatigue, 
had rendered many of the people nearly blind ; 
but we were fortunate in having some black 
silk handkerchiefs, which, worn as veils, very 
much relieved the eye. 

" In the evening I received a message from 
Mr. Fitzpatrick, acquainting me with the utter 
failure of his attempt to get our mules and 
horses over the snow — the half-hidden trail 
had proved entirely too slight to support 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 233 

til em, and tliey liad broken through, and were 
plunging about or lying half buried in snow. 
He was occupied in endeavoring to get them 
back to his camp ; and in the mean time sent 
to me for further instructions. I wrote to him 
to send the animals immediately back to their 
old pastures; and, after having made mauls 
and shovels, turn in all the strength of his 
party to open and beat a road through the 
snow, strengthening it with branches and 
boughs of the pines. 

^^ February 12. — We made mauls, and worked 
hard at our end of the road all the day. The 
wind was high, but the sun bright, and the 
snow thawing. We worked down the face of 
the hill, to meet the people at the other end. 
Towards sundown it began to grow cold, and 
we shouldered our mauls, and trudged back 
to camp. 

^^ February 13. — We continued to labor on 
the road ; and in the course of the day had the 
satisfaction to see the people working down the 
face of the opposite hill, about three miles dis- 
tant. During the morning we had the plea- 
sure of a visit from Mr. Fitzpatrick, with the 
information that all was going on well. A 
party of Indians had passed on snow-shoes, 
who said they were going to the western side 



234 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOJS'. 

of the mountain after fish. This was an indi- 
cation that the salmon were coming up the 
streams ; and we could hardly restrain our im- 
patience as we thought of them, and worked 
with increased vigor. 

" I was now perfectly satisfied that we had 
struck the stream on which Mr. Sutter lived, 
and turning about, made a hard push, and 
reached the camp at dark. Here we had the 
pleasure to find all the remaining animals, 
57 in number, safely arrived at the grassy 
hill near the camp ; and here, also, we were 
agreeably surprised with the sight of an 
abundance of salt. Some of the horse guard 
had gone to a neighboring hut for pine nuts, 
and discovered unexpectedly a large cake of 
very white fine-grained salt, which the In 
dians told them they had brought from the 
other side of the mountain ; they used it to 
eat with their pine nuts, and readily sold it 
for goods. 

" On the 19th, the people were occupied m 
making a road and bringing up the baggage ; 
and, on the afternoon of the next day, Febru- 
ary 20, 1844, we encamped with the animals 
and all the materiel of the camp, on the sum- 
mit of the Pass in the dividing ridge, 1,000 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CAKSON. 235 

miles by our traveled road from the Dalles of 
the Columbia. 

" February 21. — We now considered our- 
selves victorious over the mountain ; having 
only the descent before us, and the valley 
under our eyes, we felt strong hope that we 
should force our way down. But this was a 
ease in which the descent was not facile. 
Still, deep fields of snow lay between, and 
there was a large intervening space of rough- 
looking mountains, through which we had 
yet to wind our way. Carson roused me this 
morning with an early fire, and we were all 
up long before day, in order to pass the 
snow fields before the sun should render the 
crust soft. We enjoyed this morning a scene 
at sunrise, which, even here, was unusually 
glorious and beautiful. Immediately above 
the eastern mountains was repeated a cloud- 
formed mass of purple ranges, bordered with 
bright yellow gold ; the peaks shot up into a 
narrow line of crimson cloud, above which 
the air was filled with a greenish orange; 
and over all was the singular beauty of the 
blue sky. Passing along a ridge which 
commanded the lake on our right, of which 
we began to discover an outlet through a 
chasm on the west, we passed over alternat- 



236 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

ing open ground and hard- crusted snow-field«i 
which supported the animals, and encamped 
on the ridge after a journey of six miles. 
The grass was better than we had yet seen, 
and we were encamped in a clump of trees, 
twenty or thirty feet high, resembling white 
pine. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

" We had hard and doubtful labor yet before 
us, as the snow ajopeared to be heavier where 
the timber began further down, with few open 
spots. Ascending a height, we traced out the 
best line we could discover for the next day's 
inarch, and had at least the consolation to see 
that the mountain descended rapidly. The 
day had been one of April ; gusty, with a few 
occasional flakes of snow ; which, in the af- 
ternoon, enveloped the upper mountains in 
clouds. We watched them anxiously, as now 
we dreaded a snow storm. Shortly afterwards 
we heard the roll of thunder, and looking 
toward the valley, found it all enveloped in a 
thunder-storm. For us, as connected with the 
idea of summer, it had a singular charm ; and 
we watched its progress with excited feelings 
until nearly sunset, when the sky cleared off 
brightly, and we saw a shining line of water 
directing its course towards another, a broader 

(237) 



238 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CAKSON. 

and larger sheet. We knew that these could 
be no other than the Sacramento and the bay 
of San Francisco ; but, after our long wander- 
ing in rugged mountains, where so frequently 
we had met with disappointments, and where 
the crossing of every ridge displayed some 
unknown lake or river, we were yet almost 
afraid to believe that we were at last to escape 
into the genial country of which we have heard 
so many glowing descriptions, and dreaded, 
again to find some vast interior lake, whose 
bitter waters would bring us disappointment. 
On the southern shore of w^hat appeared to be 
the bay, could be traced the gleaming line 
where entered another large stream ; and again 
the Buenaventura rose up in our mind. 

" Carson had entered the valley along the 
southern side of the bay, but the country then 
was so entirely covered with water from snow 
and rain, that he had been able to form no 
correct impression of watercourses. 

^' We had the satisfaction to know that at 
least there were people below. Fires were lit 
up in the valley just at night, appearing to be 
in answer to ours ; and these signs of life re- 
newed, in some measure, the gayety of the 
camp. They appeared so near, that we judged 
them to be among the timber of some of the 



LIFE OF eirRISTOPHER CARSON 239 

neighboring ridges; but, having them con- 
stantly in view day after day, and night after 
night, we afterwards found them to be fires that 
had been kindled by the Indians among thb 
tulares, on the shore of the bay, eighty miles 
distant. 

" Axes and mauls were necessary to-day to 
make a road through the snow. Going ahead 
with Carson to reconnoitre the road, we reached 
in the afternoon the river which made the 
outlet of the lake. Carson sprang over, clear 
across a place where the stream was com- 
pressed among rocks, but the 'parfieclie sole of 
my moccasin glanced from the icy rock, and 
precipitated me into the river. It was some 
few seconds before I could recover myself in 
the current, and Carson, thinking me hurt, 
jumped in after me, and we both had an icy 
bath. We tried to search a while for my gun, 
which had been lost in the fall, but the cold 
drove us out ; and making a large fire on the 
bank, after we had partially dried ourselves 
we went back to meet the camp. We after- 
wards found that the gun had been slung 
under the ice which lined the banks of the 
creek. 

*^ The sky was clear and pure, with a sharp 



24C LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CAESON. 

wind from the northeast, and the thermometer 
2° below the freezing point. 

" We continued down the south face of the 
mountain ; our road leading over dry ground, 
we were able to avoid the snow almost entirely. 
In the course of the morning, we struck a foot 
path, which we were generally able to keep ; 
and the ground was soft to our animal's feet, 
being sandy or covered with mould. Green 
grass began to make its appearance, and occa- 
sionally we passed a hill scatteringly covered 
with it. The character of the forest continued 
the same ; and, among the trees, the pine with 
sharp leaves and very large cones was abund- 
ant, some of them being noble trees. We 
measured one that had ten feet diameter, 
though the height was not more than one hun- 
dred and thirty feet. All along, the river was 
a roaring torrent, its fall very great ; and, de- 
scending with a rapidity to which we had long 
been strangers, to our great pleasure oak trees 
appeared on the ridge, and soon became very 
frequent ; on these I remarked unusually great 
quantities of misletoe. 

" The opposite mountain side was very steep 
and continuous — unbroken by ravines, and 
covered with pines and snow ; while on the 
side we were traveling, innumerable rivulets 




*'MY MOCCASIN GLANCED FROM THE ICY ROCK, AND PRECIPITATKD 
ME INTO THE RIVER." 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSC N. 241 

poured down from the ridge. Continuing on, 
we halted a moment at one of these rivulets, 
to admire some beautiful evergreen trees, re- 
sembling live oak, which shaded the little 
stream. They were forty to fifty feet high, 
and two in diameter, with a uniform tufted 
top ; and the summer green of their beautiful 
foliage, with the singing birds, and the sweet 
summer wind which was whirling about the 
dry oak leaves, nearly intoxicated us with de- 
light ; and we hurried on, filled with excite- 
ment, to escape entirely from the horrid region 
of inhospitable snow, to the perpetual spring 
of the Sacramento. 

" Fehruary 25. — Believing that the difiicul- 
ties of the road were passed, and leaving Mr. 
Fitzpatrick to follow slowly, as the condition 
of the animals required, I started ahead this 
morning with a party of eight, consisting (w^ith 
myself) of Mr. Preuss, and Mr. Talbot, Car- 
son, Derosier, Towns, Proue, and Jacob. We 
took wdth us some of the best animals, and my 
intention was to proceed as rapidly as possible 
to the house of Mr. Sutter, and return to meet 
the party with a supply of provisions and 
fresh animals. 

" Ts'ear night-fall we descended into the 
steep ravine of a handsome creek thirty feet 
16 



242 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

wide, and I was engaged in getting the horses 
up the opposite hill, when 1 heard a shout 
from Carson, who had gone ahead a few hun- 
dred yards — ' Life yet,' said he, as he came up, 
' life yet ; I have found a hill side sprinkled 
with grass enough for the night.' We drovo 
along our horses, and encamped at the place 
about dark, and there was just room enough to 
make a place for shelter on the edge of the 
stream. Three horses were lost to-day — Pro 
veau ; a fine young horse from the Columbia, 
belonging to Charles Towns ; and another In- 
dian horse which carried our cooking utensils ; 
the two former gave out, and the latter strayed 
oiF into the woods as we reached the camp : 
and Derosier, knowing my attachment to Pro- 
veau, volunteered to go and bring him in. 

*' Carson and I climbed one of the nearest 
mountains ; the forest land still extended 
ahead, and the valley appeared as far as ever. 
The pack horse was found near the camp, but 
Derosier did not get in. 

" We began to be uneasy at Derosier's ab- 
sence, fearing he might have been bewildered in 
the woods. Charles Towns, who had not yet re- 
covered his mind, went to swim in the river, 
as if it was summer, and the stream placid, 
when it was a cold mountain torrent foaming 



LIFE OF CHRISTOP^EE CARSOIN'. 243 

among the rocks. We were happy to see De- 
rosier appear in the evening. He came in, 
and sitting down by the tire, began to tell us 
where he had been. He imagined he had 
been gone several days, and thought we were 
still at the camp where he had left us ; and we 
were pained to see that his mind was deranged. 
It appeared that he had been lost in the moun- 
tain, and hunger and fatigue, joined to weak- 
ness of body, and fear of perishing in the 
mountains had crazed him. The times were 
severe when stout men lost their minds from 
extremity of suffering — wdien horses died — and 
when mules and horses, ready to die of starva- 
tion, were killed for food. Yet there was no 
murmuring or hesitation. In the mean time 
Mr. Preuss continued on down the river, and 
unaware that we had encamped so early in the 
day, was lost. When night arrived and he 
did not come in, we began to understand what 
had happened to him ; but it was too late to 
make any search. 

" March 3. — We followed Mr. Preuss's trail 
fur a considerable distance along the river, 
until we reached a place where he had de- 
scended to the stream below and encamped. 
Here we shouted and fired guns, but received 
no answer; and we concluded that he had 



244 . LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CARSOT^. 

pushed on down the stream. I determined to 
keep out from the river, along which it was 
nearly impracticable to travel with animals, 
until it should form a valley. At every step 
the country improved in beauty; the pines 
were rapidly disappearing, and oaks became 
the principal trees of the forest. Among 
these, the prevailing tree was the evergreen 
oak (which, by way of distinction, we shall call 
the live oak); and with these, occurred fre- 
quently a new species of oak, bearing a long, 
slender acorn, from an inch to an inch and a 
half in length, which we now began to see 
formed the principal vegetable food of the 
inhabitants of this region. In a short distance 
we crossed a little rivulet, where were two old 
huts, and near by were heaps of acorn hulls. 
The ground round about was very rich, co- 
vered with an exuberant sward of grass ; and 
we sat down for a w^hile in the shade of the 
oaks, to let the animals feed. We repeated 
our shouts for Mr. Preuss ; and this time we 
were gratified with an answer. The voice 
grew rapidly nearer, ascending from the river, 
but when we expected to see him emerge, it 
ceased entirely. We had called up some strag- 
gling Indian — the first we had met, although 
for two days back we had seen tracks — who, 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON 245 

mistaking us for his fellows, had been only 
undeceived by getting close up. It would 
have been pleasant to witness his astonish- 
ment; he would not have been more fright- 
ened had some of the old mountain spirits they 
are so much afraid of suddenly appeared in 
his path. Ignorant of the character of these 
people, we had now additional cause of uneasi- 
ness in regard to Mr. Preuss ; he had no arms 
with him, and we began to think his chance 
doubtful. Occasionally we met deer, but had 
not the necessary time for hunting. At one 
of these orchard grounds, we encamped about 
noon to make an effort for Mr. Preuss. One 
man took his way along a spur leading into 
the river, in hope to cross his trail ; and ano- 
ther took our own back. Both were volun- 
teers ; and to the successful man was promised 
a pair of pistols — not as a reward, but as a 
token of gratitude for a service which would 
free us all from much anxiety." 

It was not until the 6th, and after a continu- 
ation of the most incredible sufferings, already 
narrated, that the party reached Sutter's Fort, 
where, it is needless to say, they were warmly 
and cordially received by that gentleman, — and 
to close this stirring narrative, we will only 
add as an evidence of tbe terrible sufferings to 



246 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CARSON. 

whicli tliey had been subjected, that out of 
sixty-seven horses and mules with which the 
expedition was commenced, only thirty-three 
reached the valley of the Sacramento, and they 
had to be led. In quoting above from Fre- 
mont's narrative, a continuous record has not 
been kept, as we have used only such portions 
as contain the narrative of incidents directly 
connected with the expedition, and of which, 
though scarcely mentioned throughout, save in 
the most incidental manner, Carson might well 
say, and with pride, magna pars fid. 

In the course of this narrative we have fre- 
quently used the word cache^ and a brief inter- 
pretation of its meaning, w^e are sure will not 
be uninteresting to the uninitiated. 

A cache is a term common among traders 
and hunters, to designate a hiding place for 
provisions and effects. It is derived from the 
French word caclier^ to conceal, and originated 
among the early colonists of Canada and 
Louisiana; but the secret depository which it 
designates was in use among the aboriginals 
long before the intrusion of the white men. It 
is, in fact, the only mode that migratory hordes 
have of preserving their valuables from rob- 
bery, during their long absences from their 
villages or accustomed haunts on hunting ex- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 247 

peditions, or during the vicissitudes of war. 
The utmost skill and caution are required to 
render these places of concealment invisible to 
the lynx eye of an Indian. 

The first care is to seek out a proper situ- 
ation, which IS generally some dry low bank 
of clay, on the margin of a water course. As 
soon as the precise spot is pitched upon, blan- 
kets, saddle-cloths, and other coverings are 
spread over the surrounding grass and bushes, 
to prevent foot tracks, or any other derange- 
ment ; and as few hands as possible are em- 
ployed. A circle of about two feet in diameter 
is then nicely cut in the sod, which is care- 
fully removed, with the loose soil immediately 
beneath it, and laid aside in a place where it 
will be safe from any thing that may change 
its appearance. The uncovered area is then 
digged perpendicularly to the depth of about 
three feet, and is then gradually widened so as 
to form a conical chamber six or seven feet 
deep. 

The whole of the earth displaced by this 
process, being of a different color from that on 
the surface, is handed up in a vessel, and 
heaped into a skin or cloth, in which it is con- 
veyed to the stream and thrown into the midst 
of the current, that it may be entirely carried 



248 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CAKSOK* 

off. Should the cache not be formed in the 
vicinity of a stream, the earth thus thrown up 
is carried to a distance, and scattered in such 
a manner as not to leave the minutest trace 
The cave being formed, is well lined with dry 
grass, bark, sticks, and poles, and occasionally 
a dried hide. The property intended to be 
hidden is then laid in, after having been well 
aired : a hide is spread over it, and dried grass, 
brush, and stones thrown in, and trampled 
down until the pit is filled to the neck. The 
loose soil which had been put aside is then 
brought, and rammed down firnaly, to prevent 
its caving in, and is frequently sprinkled with 
water to destroy the scent, lest the wolves and 
bears should be attracted to the place, and 
root up the concealed treasure. 

When the neck of the cache is nearly level 
with the surrounding surface, the sod is again 
fitted in with the utmost exactness, and any 
bushes, stocks, or stones, that may have origin- 
ally been about the spot, are restored to theii 
former places. The blankets and other cover- 
ings are then removed from the surrounding 
herbage : all tracks are obliterated : the grass 
is gently raised by the hand to its natural posi- 
tion, and the minutest chip or straw is scrupu- 
lously gleaned up and thrown into the stream. 



IIFE OF CKHRISTOPHEK CARSON. 249 

After all is done, the place is abandoned for 
the night, and, if all be right next morning, is 
not visited again, until there be a necessity for 
reopening the cache. Four men are sufficient 
in this way, to conceal the amount of three 
tons weight of merchandize in the course of 
two days. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Carson had passed the autumn and winter 
with his family, in the society of old compan- 
ions, amid various incidents amusing to the 
reader if they were detailed, because so unlike 
the style of life to which he has been accus- 
tomed, the particulars of which we must how- 
ever leave to his imagination, aiding it by 
some general description of the customs of the 
country and locality. 

The town of Taos is the second in size in 

New Mexico, (Santa Fe claiming of right to be 

first,) with very little regard to beauty in its 

construction, the houses being huddled upon 

narrow streets, except in the immediate vicinity 

of the 'plaza^ on which are located the church 

and the better class of houses ; and where, as 

in all Mexican towns, the marketing is carried 

on. It is situated in the centre of the valley 

of Taos, which is about thirty miles long, and 

fifteen broad, and surrounded by mountains, 
(250) 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 251 

upon whose tops snow lies during the greater 
part of the year. 

The valley appears to be a plain, but is in- 
tersected by many ravines, which flow into the 
Rio Grande on its western side. There is no 
timber, but in the mountains it is abundant, 
and of excellent quality. The population in 
the whole valley numbers scarcely more than 
ten thousand, and as their farming operations 
require but a portion of the soil, the larger 
part of the land is still wild, and grazed only 
by horses, cattle, and sheep, which are raised 
in large numbers. 

They are obliged to expend much labor upon 
their crops, as the climate is too dry to mature 
them without irrigation ; and yet in their com- 
munity of interest, in a country without fences, 
they find much satisfaction in rendering kind 
offices to each other ; and social life is more cul- 
tivated than in communities whose interests 
are more separate. The high altitude, and 
dryness of the atmosphere, render the climate 
exceedingly healthful, rather severe in winter, 
but very mild and salubrious in summer, so 
that disease is scarcely known in the valley. 

The dress of the people has changed very 
much since the population became partially 
Americanized, so that often the buckskin 



252 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

pants have given place to cloth, and the blan- 
ket to the coat, and the moccasin to the 
leathern shoe, and the dress of the women has 
undergone as great a change. They are learn- 
ing to employ American implements for agri- 
culture, instead of the rude Egyptian yoke fas- 
tened to the horns of the oxen ; and the plough 
composed of a single hooked piece of timber, 
and the axe that more resembles a pick, than 
the axe of the American woodsman ; and the 
cart, whose wheels are pieces sawed from the 
butt end of a log, with a hole bored for the 
axle, whose squeaking can be heard for miles, 
and which are themselves a sufficient burden 
without any loading. Their diet is simple, as 
it is with all Mexicans, consisting of the pro- 
ducts of the locality, with game, which is al- 
ways to be included in a bill of fare such as Car- 
son would furnish ; corn, and wheat, and peas, 
beans, eggs, pumpkins, and apples, pears, 
peaches, j)lums, and grapes, constitute the 
principal products of their culture. Their 
great source of enjoyment is dancing, and the 
fandango is so much an institution in a town 
of the size of Taos, that, during the win- 
ter, scarcely a night passes without a dance. 
This is doubtless familiar to the reader, as the 
acquisition of California has introduced a 



LIFE OF CIIRISTOPHEK CARSON. 253 

knowledge of the customs of its natives to 
every eastern household. 

In the spring of 1845, Carson had decided 
to commence the business of farming at Taos, 
and had made the necessary arrangements for 
building a house, and for stocking and plant- 
ing, when an express arrived from Col. Fre- 
mont, bringing despatches to remind him of 
his promise to join a third exploring expedi- 
tion, in case he should ever undertake another, 
and to designate the place where he would 
meet the party Fremont was organising. 

Before parting with Fremont in the previous 
summer, Fremont had secured the promise 
from Carson, that he would again be his guide 
and companion, should he ever undertake 
another expedition ; but Carson was not ex- 
pecting its execution at this time, and yet, 
though it would entail severe loss on him to 
make a hasty sale of his possessions, and ar- 
range for leaving his family, he felt bound by 
his promise, as well as by his attachment to 
Fremont, and at once closing up his business, 
together with an old friend by the name of 
Owens, who had become, as it were, a partner 
with him in his enterprise of farming, they 
having been old trapping friends, they re- 
paired together to the point designated for 



254 LIFE OF CHKISTOPHER C^RSOX. 

joining the exploring party, upon the upper 
Arkansas, at Bent's Fort, where they had last 
parted from Fremont. 

The meeting was mutually satisfactory, and 
with Fremont were Maxwell, an old and well- 
tried friend, and a Mr. Walker, who had been 
in Captain Bonneville's expedition to the 
Columbia, and in other trapping parties in 
California and vicinity, so that Avith other 
mountain men, whose names are less known, 
but every man of whom w^as Carson's friend, 
Fremont's corps was more efficient for the pre- 
sent service, than it had been in either of the 
former expeditions. 

After some months spent in examining the 
headwaters of the great rivers which flow to 
either ocean, the party descended at the begin- 
ning of winter to the Great Salt Lake, and in 
October encamped on its southwestern shore, in 
view of that undescribed country which at that 
time had not been penetrated, and which vague 
and contradictory reports of Indians rej^re- 
sented as a desert without grass or water. 

Their previous visit to the lake had given it 
a somewhat familiar aspect, and on leaving it 
they felt as if about to commence their journey 
anew. Its eastern shore was frequented by 
large bands of Indians, but here they had 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOTs^ 255 

dwindled down to a single family, which was 
gleaning from some hidden source, enough to 
support life, and drinking the salt water of a 
little stream near by, no fresh water being 
at hand. This offered scanty encouragement 
as to what they might expect on the desert 
beyond. 

At its threshold and immediately before 
them was a naked plain of smooth clay surface, 
mostly devoid of vegetation — the hazy weather 
of the summer hung over it, and in the dis- 
tance rose scattered, low, black and dry-looking 
mountains. At what appeared to be fifty miles 
or more, a higher peak held out some promise 
of wood and water, and towards this it was re- 
solved to direct their course. 

Four men, with a pack animal loaded with 
water for two days, and accompanied by a 
naked Indian — who volunteered for a roAvard 
to be their guide to a spot where he said there 
was grass and fine springs — were sent forward 
to explore in advance for a foothold, and verify 
the existence of water before the whole party 
should be launched into the desert. Their way 
led toward the high peak of the mountain, on 
which they were to make a smoke signal in the 
event of finding water. About sunset of the 
second day, no signal having been seen, Fremont 



256 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

became uneasy at the absence of his men, and 
set out with the whole party upon their trail, 
traveling rapidly all the night. Towards 
morning one of the scouts was met returning. 

The Indian had been found to know less 
than themselves, and had been sent back, but 
the men had pushed on to the mountains, where 
they found a running stream, with wood and 
sufficient grass. The whole party now lay 
down to rest, and the next day, after a hard 
march, reached the stream. The distance 
across the plain was nearly seventy miles, and 
they called the mountain which had guided 
them Pilot Peak. This was their first day's 
march and their first camp in the desert. 

A few days afterwards the expedition was 
divided into two parties — the larger one under 
the guidance of Walker, a well-known moun- 
taineer and experienced traveler, going around 
to the foot of the Sierra Nevada by a circuitous 
route which he had previously traveled, and 
Fremont, with ten men, Delawares and whites, 
penetrated directly through the heart of the 
desert. 

Some days after this separation, Fremont's 
party, led by Carson, while traveling along the 
foot of a mountain, the arid country covered 
with dwarf shrubs, discovered a volume of 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 257 

smoke rising from a ravine. Riding cautiously 
up, they discovered a single Indian on the 
border of a small creek. He was standing 
before a little fire, naked as he was born, ap- 
parently thinking, and looking at a small 
earthen pot which was simmering over the fire, 
filled with the common ground-squirrel of the 
country. Another bunch of squirrels lay near 
t, and close by were his bow and arrows. Ho 
was a well-made, good-looking young man, 
about twenty-five years of age. Although so 
taken by surprise that he made no attempt to 
escape, and evidently greatly alarmed, he re- 
ceived his visitors with forced gaiety, and 
offered them part of his jpot au feu and his 
bunch of squirrels. He was kindly treated 
and some little presents made him, and the 
party continued their way. 

His bow was handsomely made, and the ar- 
rows, of which there were about forty in his 
quiver, were neatly feathered, and headed with 
obsidian, worked into spear-shape by patient 
labor. 

After they had separated, Fremont found 
that his Delawares had taken a fancy to tho 
Indian's bow and arrows, and carried them off. 
They carried them willingly back, when they 
were reminded that they had exposed the poor 
17 



258 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

fellow to almost certain starvation by depriving 
liim, in tlie beginning of winter, of his only 
means of subsistence, which it would require 
months to replace. 

One day the party had reached one of the 
lakes lying along the foot of the Sierra Nevada, 
which was their appointed rendezvous with 
their friends, and where, at this season, the 
scattered Indians of the neighborhood were 
gathering, to fish. Turning a point on the lake 
shore, a party of Indians, some twelve or four- 
teen in number, came abruptly in view. They 
were advancing along in Indian file, one fol- 
lowing the other, their heads bent forward, with 
eyes fixed on the ground. As the two parties 
met, the Indians did not turn their heads or 
raise their eyes from the ground, but passed 
silently along. The whites, habituated to the 
chances of savage life, and always uncertain 
whether they should find friends or foes in 
those they met, fell readily into their humor, 
and they too passed on their way without word 
or halt. 

It was a strange meeting: two parties of 
such different races and different countries, 
coming abruptly upon each other, with every 
occasion to excite curiosity and provoke ques- 
tion, pass in a desert without a word of inquiry 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 259 

or a single remark on either side, or without 
any show of hostility. 

Walker's party joined Fremont at the 
appointed rendezvous, at the point where 
Walker's river discharges itself into the lake, 
but it was now mid- winter, they w^ere out of 
provisions — and there w^as no guide. The 
heavy snows might be daily expected to block 
up the passes in the great Sierra, if they had 
not already fallen, and with all their experience 
it was considered too hazardous to attempt the 
passage with the materiel of a whole party ; it 
was arranged therefore that Walker should 
continue with the main party southward along 
the Sierra, and enter the valley of the San 
Joaquin by some one of the low passes at its 
head, wdiere there is rarely or never snow. 
Fremont undertook, with a few men, to cross 
directly w^estward over the Sierra JS'evada to 
Sutter's Fort, with the view of obtaining there 
the necessary supplies of horses and beef cattle 
with which to rejoin his party. 

After some days' travel, leaving the Mercedes 
River, they had entered among the foothills of 
the mountains, and w^ere journeying through 
a beautiful country of undulating upland, 
openly timbered with oaks, principally ever 
green, and watered with small streams. 



260 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

Traveling along, they came suddenly upon 
broad and deeply-worn trails, which had been 
freshly traveled by large bands of horses, ap- 
parently coming from the settlements on the 
coast. These and other indications warned 
them that they were approaching villages of the 
Horse-Thief Indians, who appeared to have 
just returned from a successful foray. With 
the breaking up of the missions, many of the 
Indians had returned to their tribes in the 
mountains. Their knowledge of the Spanish 
language, and familiarity with the ranches and 
towns, enabled them to pass and repass, at 
pleasure, between their villages in the Sierra 
and the ranches on the coast. They very soon 
availed themselves of these facilities to steal 
and run off into the mountains bands of horses, 
and in a short time it became the occupation 
of all the Indians inhabiting the southern 
Sierra JN'evada, as well as the plains beyond. 

Three or four parties would be sent at a time 
from different villages, and every week was 
signalized by the carrying-off of hundreds of 
horses, to be killed and eaten in the interior. 
Repeated expeditions had been made against 
them by the Californians, who rarely succeeded 
in reaching the foot of the mountains, and were 
invariably defeated when they did. 



LIFE OF CHKISTOPHER CARSOjS". 261 

As soon as this fresh trail had been discov- 
ered, four men, two Delawares with Maxwell 
and Dick Owens, tAVO of Fremont's favorite 
men, were sent forward upon the trail. The 
rest of the party had followed along at their 
usual gait, but Indian signs became so thick, 
trail after trail joining on, that they started 
rapidly after the men, fearing for their safety. 
After a few miles ride, they reached a spot 
which had been the recent camping ground of 
a village, and where abundant grass and good 
water suggested a halting place for the night, 
and they immediately set about unpacking 
their animals and preparing to encamp. 

While thus engaged, they heard what seemed 
to be the barking of many dogs, coming appa- 
rently from a village, not far distant ; but they 
had hardly thrown off their saddles when they 
suddenly became aware that it was the noise 
of women and children shouting and crying; 
and this was sufficient notice that the men who 
had been sent ahead had fallen among un- 
fi-iendly Indians, so that a fight had already 
commenced. 

It did not need an instant to throw the sad- 
dles on again, and leaving four men to guard 
the camp, Fremont, with the rest, rode oif in 
the direction of the sounds. 



262 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

They had galloped but half a mile, when 
crossing a little ridge, they came abruptly in 
view of several hundred Indians advancing on 
each side of a knoll, on the top of which were 
the men, where a cluster of trees and rocks 
made a good defence. It was evident that they 
had come suddenly into the midst of the Indian 
village, and jumping from their horses, with 
the instinctive skill of old hunters and moun- 
taineers as they were, had got into an admira- 
ble place to fight from. 

The Indians had nearly surrounded the 
knoll, and were about getting possession of the 
horses, as Fremont's party came in view. 
Their welcome shout as they charged up the 
hill, was answered by the yell of the Delawares 
as they dashed down to recover their animals, 
and the crack of Owens' and Maxwell's rifles. 
Owens had singled out the foremost Indian 
who went headlong down the hjll, to steal 
horses no more. 

Profiting by the first surprise of the Indians, 
and anxious for the safety of the men who had 
been left in camp, the whites immediately re- 
treated towards it, checking the Indians with 
occasional rifle shots, with the range of which 
it seemed remarkable that they were ac- 
quainted. 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 263 

The whole camp were on guard until day- 
light. As soon as it was dark, each man crept 
to his post. They heard the women and child- 
ren retreating towards the mountains, but 
nothing disturbed the quiet of the camp, except 
when one of the Delawares shot at a wolf as it 
jumped over a log, and which he mistook for 
an Indian. As soon as it grew light they took 
to the most open ground, and retreated into 
the plain. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

The record of Fremont and Carson's journey 
through this region of country, already so 
thoroughly explored at such great hazard, and 
accompanied with such unheard-of sufferings, 
would be but a repetition of v/hat has already 
been written, for they were again driven to 
mule meat, or whatever else chance or Provi- 
dence might throw in their way, to sustain life. 
In every need — in every peril — in every quar- 
ter where coolness, sagacity, and skill were 
most required, Carson was ever first, and his 
conduct throughout cemented, if possible, more 
firmly the friendship between him and his 
young commander. 

They reached, at last, Sutter's Fort, where 

they were received with the hospitality which 

has made Mr. Sutter's name proverbial ; and 

leaving his party to recruit there, Fremont 

pushed on towards Monterey, to make known 

to the authorities there the condition of his 
(264) 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CAESON. 265 

party, and obtained permission to recruit and 
procure the sup^^lies necessary for the prosecu- 
tion of his exploration. 

Journeying in the security of this permission, 
he was suddenly arrested in his march, near 
Monterey, by an officer at the head of a body 
of cavalry, who bore him a violent message 
from the commanding officer in California — 
Gen. Castro — commanding him to retire in- 
stantly from the country. 

There was now no alternative but to put 
himself on the defensive, as he had come to the 
country for an entirely peaceable purpose, and 
it was not in the blood of Americans to submit 
to dictation. The direction of travel was there- 
fore changed ; a strong point was selected and 
fortified as thoroughly as could be with the 
means at their command, which work was 
hardly completed before Gen. Castro, at the 
head of several hundred men, arrived and es- 
tablished his camp within a few hundred yards 
and in sight of the exploring party, evidently 
under the mistaken idea that he could intimi- 
date them by his numbers. 

Tliough the Americans were but forty in 
nuniber, every man had already seen service, 
and the half score of old traders and trappers, 
who had been leaders in many an Indian fight, 



266 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

made the party, small as it was, quite equal to 
that of the ten fold greater number of the 
Mexicans ; for the men, equally with their 
leader, were determined to maintain their 
rights, and if need be, to sacrifice their lives 
in defence of the cause of American citizens 
in Mexico ; for in the three days during which 
they lay there encamped, expresses came in 
from the American citizens in Monterey, warn- 
ing them of their danger, and announcing too, 
the probability of a war with Mexico, and 
urging the propriety that every American 
should unite in a common defence against the 
Mexican authorities. 

At the end of three days the council which 
Eremont now called, agreed with him, that the 
Mexican General had no intention of attacking 
them, and that it was the more prudent course 
to break up camp, push on to the Sacramento 
River, and endeavor at Lawson's trading post 
to obtain the needed outfit for their return 
homeward through Oregon, as further explora- 
tion in southern California seemed out of the 
(\ aestion ; and because, as an ofiicer in the 
United States service, Fremont felt he could 
not commence, or willingly court hostility with 
the Mexican authorities — besides, all the Amer- 
ican residents in the country were equally in 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 267 

peril ; and if the event of war pressed upon 
them, preparation was needed, and shoukl be 
made at once. 

In council Fremont found Carson ready for 
fcfuch, as for every emergency ; and, around the 
camp fires, where the subject was discussed, 
every man was ready for the aflPray ; and while 
willing to retire and wait the command of the 
leader evinced no disposition to avoid it. 

The party remained ten days at Lawson's 
post, when information was brought that the 
Indians were in arms at the instigation of the 
Mexicans, as it was supposed, and were advan- 
cing to destroy the post, and an}^ other Amer- 
ican settlement ; and it was soon rumored that 
a thousand warriors were collected, and on 
their way to aid in this purpose. The time 
had now come for action, and, with five men 
from the post, Captain Fremont and his com- 
mand, with Carson for his Lieutenant, by 
choice of the party, as well as of its leader, 
took up their march against the savages, in aid 
of their countrymen. 

They had no difiiculty in finding the Indian 
war party, and immediately made the attack, 
which was responded to with vigor by the In- 
dians, and contested bravely ; but, of course, 
with inability to conquer. The red men were 



268 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHEE CAESOIS'. 

defeated with terrible slaughter, and learned 
here the lesson not forgotten for many years, 
that it was useless to measure their strength 
with white men. 

Carson was, of course, as was his invariable 
custom, in the thickest of the fight, and when 
it was over, and the Indians had retired, cowed 
and defeated, ventured the opinion that they 
had received a lesson which would not be re- 
quired to be repeated in many years. 

This victory won, and present danger from 
these Indians thus avoided, the party returned 
to Lawson's post, where, having completed 
their outfit, they turned their backs on Mexi- 
can possessions, and started northward, Fre- 
mont looking to Oregon as the field of his 
future operations, intending to explore a new 
route to the Wah-lah-math settlements. 

While on that journey, Carson being as ever 
his guide, companion, and friend, the party 
was suddenly surprised by the appearance of 
two white men, who, as all knew from experi- 
ence, must have incurred the greatest perils 
and hazards to reach that spot. 

They proved to be two of Mr. Fremont's 
old wyageurs^ and quickly told their story. 
They were part of a guard of six men conduct- 
ing a United States officer, who was on his 



LIFE OF CRHRISTOPHER CARSOIS'. 269 

trail with despatches from Washington, and 
whom they had left two days back, while they 
came on to give notice of his approach, and to 
ask that assistance might be sent him. They 
themselves had only escaped the Indians by 
the swiftness of their horses. It was a case in 
which there was no time to be lost, nor a mis- 
take made. Mr. Fremont determined to go 
himself; and taking ten picked men, Carson 
of course accompanying him, he rode down the 
western shore of the lake on the morning of 
j:he 9th, (the direction the officer was to come,) 
and made a journey of sixty miles without a 
halt. But to meet men, and not to miss them, 
was the difficult point in this trackless region. 
It was not the case of a high road, where all 
travelers must meet in passing each other : at 
intervals there were places — defiles, or camping 
grounds — where both parties might pass ; and 
watching for these, he came to one in the after- 
noon, and decided that, if the party was not 
killed, it must be there that night. He halted 
and encamped; and, as the sun was going 
down, had the inexpressible satisfaction to see 
the four men approaching. The officer proved 
to be Lieutenant Gillespie, of the United 
States marines, who had been despatched from 
Washington the November previous, to make 



27C LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

his way by Yera Cruz, the City of Mexico, and 
Mazatlan, to Monterey, in Upper Califoj'nia, 
deliver despatches to the United States consul 
there ; and then find Mr. Fremont, wherever 
he should be. 

Carson, in a letter to the Washington Union 
in June 1847, thus describes the interview, and 
the events consequent upon it : 

" Mr. Gillespie had brought the Colonel let- 
ters from home — the first he had had since 
leaving the States the year before — and he was 
up, and kept a large fire burning until after 
midnight; the rest of us were tired out, and 
all went to sleep. This was the only night in 
all our travels, except the one night on the 
island in the Salt Lake, that we failed to keep 
guard ; and as the men were so tired, and we 
expected no attack now that we had sixteen in 
the party, the Colonel didn't like to ask it of 
them, but sat up late himself. Owens and I 
were sleeping together, and we were waked at 
the same time by the licks of the axe that 
killed our men. At first, I didn't know it was 
that ; but I called to Basil, who was on that side 
—'What's the matter there ?— What's that 
fuss about?' — he never answered, for he was 
dead then, poor fellow, and he never knew 
what killed him — his head had been cut in, in 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOT^. 271 

his sleep ; the other groaned a little as he 
died. The Delawares (we had four with us) 
were sleeping at that fire, and they sprang up 
as the Tlamaths charged them. One of them 
caught up a gun, which was unloaded ; but, 
although he could do no execution, he kept 
them at bay, fighting like a soldier, and didn't 
give up until he was shot full of arrows — 
three entering his heart ; he died bravely. As 
soon as I had called out, I saw it was Indians 
in the camp, and I and Owens together cried 
out * Indians.' There were no orders given ; 
things went on too fast, and the Colonel had 
men with him that didn't need to be told their 
duty. The Colonel and I, Maxwell, Owens, 
Godey, and Stepp, jumped together, we six, 
and ran to the assistance of our Delawares. I 
don't know who fired and who didn't ; but I 
think it was Stepp's shot that killed the 
Tlamath chief; for it was at the crack of 
Stepp's gun that he fell. He had an English 
half- axe slung to his wrist by a cord, and there 
were forty arrows left in his quiver — the most 
beautiful and warlike arrows I ever saw. He 
must have been the bravest man among them, 
from the way he was armed, and judging by 
his cap When the Tlamaths saw him fall, 
they ran ; but we lay, every man with his rifle 



272 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 

cocked, until daylight, expecting another at- 
tack. 

" In the morning we found by the tracks 
that from fifteen to twenty of the Tlamaths 
had attacked us. They had killed three of our 
men, and wounded one of the Delawares, who 
scalped the chief, whom we left where he fell. 
Our dead men we carried on mules ; but, after 
going about ten miles, we found it impossible 
to get them any farther through the thick tim- 
ber, and finding a secret place, we buried them 
under logs and chunks, having no way to dig 
a grave. It was only a few days before this 
fight that some of these same Indians had 
come into our camp ; and, although we had 
only meat for two days, and felt sure that we 
should have to eat mules for ten or fifteen 
days to come, the Colonel divided with them, 
and even had a mule unpacked to give them 
some tobacco and knives." 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Those who have not been in similar dangers 
cannot properly appreciate the feelings of the 
survivors, as they watched with their dead and 
performed for them the last sad rites. Fre- 
mont had lost Lajeunesse, whom they all loved, 
and the other two, Crane and the Delaware 
Indian, were not less brave than he. The In- 
dians had watched for Lieutenant Gillespie, 
but in Fremont's coming up, while three were 
taken, more were saved, and the benefit to the 
country, and perhaps the safety to Fremont's 
whole force was secured by the receipt of the 
dispatches, and this early rencontre. None 
had apprehended danger that night, being, as 
they erroneously supposed, far removed from 
tlie Tlamath country, and equally far from the 
point where they already had encountered and 
defeated the red men. The Indians never 
again found Fremont's party off guard, for the 

events of this night proved a serious and mel- 
18 (273) 



274 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHEE CAESON. 

ancholy, as well as a sufficient lesson. That 
they cherished revenge, is not to be wondered 
at, nor tliat they vowed to seek it at the 
earliest opportunity, as it was now known that 
war had been declared with Mexico, for such 
was the tenor of Lieut. Gillespie's information. 
Fremont determined to return to California, 
and choosing to give his men a chance for re- 
venge before doing so, he traveled around 
Tlamath lake, and, camping at a spot nearly 
opposite where his three men had been killed, 
the next morning sent Carson on in advance, 
with ten chosen men, and with instructions 
that, if he discovered a large Indian village, 
without being seen himself, he should send 
back word, and that he would hasten on with 
the rest of the party and give them battle ; 
but if this could not be done, to attack the 
village himself, if he thought the chances were 
equal. 

Of course Carson and his men were parties 
to this advice, choosing the situation of danger 
because only in that way could they revenge 
the death of their comrades. 

They were not long in finding a trail, which 
they followed to a village of fifty lodges, in 
each of which were probably three warriors. 
The village was in commotion, which indicated 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON*. 275 

tnat they had discovered Carson and his party ; 
so that no time could be lost, and Carson and 
his comrades at once determined to take ad- 
vantage of the confusion in which the Indian 
camp seemed to be, by making a sudden 
charge. 

The Indians had their families to defend, and 
were brave in proportion as that motive is an 
incentive to activity, therefore the attack of the 
white men was received and met with despera- 
tion. But a panic of fear seized them, owing 
to the suddenness of the attack, and they fled, 
leaving behind them all their possessions, while 
the victors pursued and shot them down with- 
out mercy, and when the victory was declared 
complete by their leader Carson, they returned 
to the richly-stored village. In all their travels 
and adventures, they had never seen an Indian 
village in which the lodges were more tasteful 
in their workmanship and their decorations, or 
which were better supplied with utensils of con- 
venience. The wigwams were woven of the 
broad leaves of a kind of flag which was highly 
combustible. Carson therefore ordered that 
they should be burned, having first visited them 
to see that their contents were so arranged as 
to be consumed in the conflagration. The 
work was completed in a few moments^ and 



276 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

Fremont, seeing the smoke, knew that Carson 
was engaged with the Indians, and hastened 
forward to render him any needed assistance. 
But he arrived only to hear the report of his 
lieutenant, and to have the gloom of the whole 
party dispelled by the news of the victory ac- 
complished ; and to move on a little for an en- 
campment, and a talk in regard to their future 
operations. 

The next day all started for the valley of the 
Sacramento, and were four days out from their 
camp when they came to a point on the river 
where it passes through a deep canon, through 
which the trail would take them, but Carson 
advised to avoid this gorge, and they were wise 
in doing so, as Tlamath Indians were concealed 
there, intending to cut off the party of white 
men. Disappointed that they had lost their 
prey, the Indians came out from this ambush, 
and were immediately dispersed by Carson and 
Godey, and a few others, who made a charge 
upon them. But one old Indian, inspired 
probably by revenge for some friend lost, stood 
his ground, and with several arrows in his 
mouth waited the attack he courted. Carson 
and Grodey advanced, and when within shooting 
distance, were obliged to dodge rapidly to avoid 
the arrows leveled at them. The Indian was 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CAESON. 277 

behind a tree, and only by cautiously advancing 
while dodging the death he was sending from 
his bow, did Carson gain a position where he 
was able to aim a bullet at his heart. The 
beautiful bow and still unexhausted quiver that 
Carson took from this Indian, he presented to 
Lieutenant Grillespie on his return to camp. 

They were in a locality where game was 
scarce, not being able to find any, the whole 
party went supperless that night and breakfast- 
iess next morning, but the next day they found 
some game, and came, after severe traveling 
for some days longer, safely in to Peter Law- 
son's Fort, where they rested and hunted a 
week, and then moved lower down on the Sac- 
ramento, and again camped. But his men 
were restless from inactivity, and Fremont de- 
cided it was no longer wise to wait for positive 
instructions, as the war was probably com- 
menced ; he therefore sent a part of his force 
to take the little town and fort at Sonoma, 
which had but a weak garrison. They captured 
General Yallejos here, with two captains and 
several cannon, and a quantity of arms. The 
whole force united at Sonoma, and learning 
tliat the Mexicans and Americans in the south 
were engaged in open hostility, Fremont was 
preparing to join them, calling in all the 



278 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

Americans in the vicinity to come to Ms com- 
mand, Avhen a large Mexican force, dispatched 
by General Castro from San Francisco, with 
orders to drive the Americans out of the country, 
came into the vicinity, and took prisoners and 
killed two men, whom Fremont had sent out 
as messengers to the American settlers, to in- 
form them that Sonoma was taken, and that 
they could fly thither for safety. 

The captain of this party of Mexicans, hear- 
ing that Fremont and his forces were anxious 
to attack him, lost all courage and fled, to be 
pursued by the party of exjDlorers, who fol- 
lowed them closely for six days, and captured 
many horses which they had abandoned in 
their fright. But finding they could not over- 
take them, Fremont returned to Sonoma, and 
the party of Mexicans continued their march 
to Los AngeloSj where General Castro joined 
them. 

Around Fremont's party, the American citi- 
zens now rallied in great numbers — nearly all 
who were in the countrv — knowin^: that their 
time to aid in its emancipation had arrived. 
Fromont left a strong garrison at Sonoma, and 
went to Sutter's Fort, where he left his pris- 
oners. General Yallejos and the two captains, 
and an American, a brother-in-law of General 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 279 

Vallejos, and having put the fort under military 
rules, with all his mountain men, started to 
take possession of Monterey. But he had been 
anticipated in this work by Commodore Sloat, 
who was in port with the American squadron, 
and who left soon after Fremont's arrival, 
Commodore Stockton assuming the command. 
While at Sonoma, Fremont and his moun- 
tain men, with the American settlers, had de- 
clared the Independence of California, and 
assumed the Bear Flag, which he gallantly 
tendered to Commodore Sloat, and the flag of 
the United States was hoisted over his camp. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

With Carson as his constant adviser, as he 
was now his acknowledged friend, Fremont 
here obtained the use of the ship Cyanne, to 
convey himself and his command to San Diego, 
where they hoped to be able to obtain animals, 
and march upon the Mexicans under General 
Castro, who was then at Los Angelos, leaving 
their own for the use of Commodore Stockton 
and his marines, who were to meet them at 
that place. 

With the Americans who joined him at San 
Diego, all of them pioneers of the true stamp, 
inured to hardships, hard fare, and Indian 
fights, Fremont's command numbered one 
hundred and fifty men, who started for Los 
Angelos, with perfect confidence in their own 
success, though the force of the enemy was 
seven or eight hundred. 

Fremont camped a league from this beautiful 

town, to await the arrival of the Commodore, 
(280) 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSOIT. 281 

who soon joined him, with ''as fine a body of 
men as I ever looked upon," to quote Carson's 
own words, and the forces thus united, marched 
at once upon Los Angelos, which they found 
deserted, as General Castro dared not risk a 
battle with such men as he knew Fremont 
commanded. 

After this, Fremont was appointed Governor 
of California by Commodore Stockton, and re- 
turned to Monterey and the northern portion 
of the country, while the Commodore went to 
San Diego, as that was a better port than San 
Pedro, the port of Los Angelos ; and General 
Castro returned to the possession of Los An- 
gelos. 

Meantime, Carson,- with a force of fifteen 
men, was dispatched to make the overland 
journey to Washington, as the bearer of im- 
portant dispatches. He was instructed to make 
the journey in sixty days if possible, which he 
felt sure of being able to accomplish, though 
no one knew, better than he did, the difficulties 
he might expect to encounter. 

When two days out from the copper mines 
of New Mexico, he came suddenly upon a 
village of Apache Indians, which his quick wit 
enabled him to elude. He rode forward in his 
path, as if unmindful of their presence, and 



282 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHEK CAESOX. 

halted in a wood a few yards from the village, 
which seemed to disconcert liie inhabitants, 
unused to being approached with so much 
boldness, as they had never been treated in 
that manner by the Mexicans. He here de- 
manded a parley, which was granted, and he 
told them that his party were simply travelers 
on the road to New Mexico, and that they had 
come to their village for an exchange of ani- 
mals, as theirs were nearly exhausted. 

The Indians were satistied with his explana- 
tion ; and Carson, choosing as his camping- 
ground a suitable spot for defense, traded with 
the Apaches to advantage, and at an early hour 
on the following morning resumed his journey, 
glad to be thus easily rid of such treacherous, 
thieving rascals. A few more days of travel 
brought him to the Mexican settlements, and 
near to his own home and family. The party 
had been, for some time, short of provisions, as 
their haste in traveling did not allow them to 
stop to hunt, and on the route — desert much 
of the way — there had been little game ; and 
now, with only a little corn which they ate 
parched, they were glad of relief, which Carson 
readily obtained from friends at the first ranche 
he entered ; for though the country was at war 
with the United States, Carson was a Mexican 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARS0:N'. 283 

as much as an American, having chosen their 
country for his home, and taken a wife from 
their people. He was pursuing his course 
towards Taos, when, across a broad prairie, he 
espied a speck moving towards him, which his 
eagle eye soon discerned could not belong to 
the country. As it neared him, and its form 
became visible, hastening on, he met an expe- 
dition sent out by the United States Govern- 
ment to operate in California, under the com- 
mand of General Kearney, to which officer he 
lost no time in presenting himself, and narrated 
to him his errand, and the state of affairs in 
California, with the most graphic fidelity. 
Kearney was extremely glad to meet him, and 
after detaining him as long as Carson thought 
it wise to remain, proposed to Carson to return 
with him, while he should send the dispatches 
to Washington by Mr. Fitzpatrick — with whom 
Carson had a familiar acquaintance ; and know- 
ing how almost invaluable his services would 
be to General Kearney, Carson gave the ready 
answer, " As the General pleases," trusting en- 
tirely to his fidelity in the matter, and as the 
exchange was a self-denial to him, he had no 
occasion to weigh the motives that might influ- 
ence a man like General Kearney in the affair 
of the dispatches, or the good that his presence 



284 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON". 

witli them miglit be to himself when he should 
arrive in Washington, but while he would have 
been glad to have met his family, he cared for 
the honor of having done his duty. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

On the 18th of October, Gen. Kearney took 
up his march from his camp upon the Rio 
Grande, having Christopher Carson for his 
guide, with instructions to lead the party by 
the most direct route to California: and so 
ably did Carson fulfill this official duty, so un- 
expectedly imposed upon him, that, with their 
animals in good condition still, they camped 
within the limit of California on the evening 
of the third of December, and the next morn- 
ing advanced towards San Diego. 

But the Mexicans were not unapprised of 
the approach of American troops, and spies 
sent out by General Castro, to meet Kearney's 
force, were surprised and brought into camp 
by a scout which Carson attended. Compelled 
to give information, they said that the Mexi- 
can forces under its general, were planning an 
attack upon the Americans before they could 

join their California allies. Carson, with the 

(285j 



286 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

understanding lie had of Gen. Kearney, ani 
his knowledge of guerrilla warfare, would have 
advised another route, to evade the Mexican 
troops and avoid a battle, until the weary and 
newly arrived soldiery had had some rest, and 
the assistance and advice of those who knew 
the last movements of the Mexicans, could 
make a battle more effectual with less of risk 
than now ; but General Kearney was impa- 
tient for an encounter with the stupid Mex- 
icans, as he deemed them, and only learned by 
experience that the Californians were superior 
to those he had known in other of the Mexican 
States, both in courage and natural tact, and in 
their military order and discipline, as the story 
will fully show. 

He kept on his course until he approached 
within fifteen miles of the Mexican camp, 
where he halted, and despatched a party to 
reconnoitre. They reported on their return, 
that the enemy were strongly fortified in an 
Indian village ; but in making the observation 
the scout had been discovered and pursued 
back to camp. 

General Kearney determined to make an 
Immediate attack, and commenced his march 
at one o'clock in the morning, with no rest 
that night for his animals or for his men ; and 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOIs". 287 

weary and hungry before day, when within a 
mile of Castro's camp, the advance guard of 
the Americans came upon the advance guard 
of the Mexicans, which had been stationed to 
prevent a surprise. 

This Mexican guard slept in their dress, 
ready at a five minutes' warning to mount in 
their saddles, which were their pillows, while 
their horses w^ere tied to feed close around 
them. The sound of the trumpet com- 
manded first a rapid trot, then a gallop, and 
the fifteen Americans under Captain Johnson 
with Kit Carson, of course, for his next officer, 
had a brisk fight with this Mexican outpost, 
but failed to stamj)ede their animals, as each 
Mexican mounted his own horse immediately, 
and the guard drew back into camp. Capt. 
Johnson and Carson were now joined by Capt. 
Moore with twenty five Americans, a force 
that had united with Kearney's since he 
came into California, when Moore ordered an 
attack upon the centre of the Mexican force, 
in order to divide it, and cause confusion in 
the Mexican ranks. 

The command of forty men were within a 
hundred yards of the enemy, and Carson 
among the foremost, when his horse suddenly 
fell and threw its rider, who was not seriously 



288 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

injured ; but the stock of his gun was shivered 
to splinters, and his position one of exceeding 
danger, as the whole body of dragoons went 
galloping over him. When he could arise 
from the ground, he saw a dead horseman 
lying near, whom he relieved of gun and 
cartridge box, and again mounting his horse, 
upon whose bridle he had managed to retain 
his hold, he was speedily in the thickest of the 
fight, where the contest was becoming des- 
perate. 

Capt. Johnson and several of the soldiers in 
the advance had already been killed, and 
probably only the fall of his horse had saved 
Carson's life, but he was now able to assist 
Moore and his men to dislodge the Mexicans, 
and oblige them to retreat. The Americans 
pursued them, but as there were only forty in 
the whole of General Kearney's command who 
J were mounted on horses, and the mules which 
|%vere ridden by the rest had become at once 
unmanageable when the firing commenced, 
their success was not complete. The horses 
they had were wild, having been captured by 
Capt. Davidson and Kit Carson since their ar- 
rival in California, from a party of Mexicans 
bound for Sonora, so that even Moore's party 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 289 

had become scattered in the cliase, and the 
pursc.it accomplished very little. 

The Mexicans immediately discovered the 
condition of the Americans, and turning back, 
recommenced the fight, which had been nearly 
a bloodless victory until now, but soon became 
for the Americans, a terrible slaughter. 'Every 
moment some dragoon yielded his life to the 
bullet or the deadly blow of an exasperated 
Mexican, and of the forty dragoons on horses 
thirty were either killed or severely wounded. 
Captain Moore, whom Carson calls, " as brave 
a man as ever drew the breath of life," was 
already among the killed. As fast as the 
American soldiers could come up, they joined 
the battle, but the Mexicans fought with a 
bravery unsurpassed, and seemed to carry all 
before them. 

G-en. Kearney now drew his sword, and 
placed himself at the head of his remaining 
forces, and though severely wounded, attempted 
to again force the Mexicans to retreat, while 
Lieutenant Davidson came up with two moun- 
tain howitzers ; but before he could unlimber 
them for use, the men who were working them 
were shot down, and the lasso, thrown with 
unerring aim, had captured the horses attached 
to one of them, and the gun was taken to the 
19 



290 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

ranks of the enemy, who, for some reason^ 
could not make it go off, or the American 
howitzer, at the distance of three hundred 
yards, woukl have done execution against those 
who had brought it thousands of miles to this 
point, to have it turned against them ; though 
Lieutenant Davidson had nearly lost his life in 
the attempt to save it, but to no purpose. 

The Americans were now obliged to take 
refuge at a point of rocks that offered, near 
where they had been defeated, for they had but 
two officers besides Carson, who were not either 
killed or wounded ; and here they waited for 
the Mexicans, but they did not again venture 
an attack. 

The fighting had continued throughout the 
entire day ; both sides were weary and spent, and 
night closed over this scene of battle, without 
any positive result to either party. Gen. 
Kearney must now attend to the wounded, and 
all night the camp w^as occupied in the sad 
work of burying its dead, and alleviating the 
agony of the sufferers ; while, at the same 
time, a close watch was kept for the enemy, 
who were constantly receiving reinforcements, 
of Indians as well as Mexicans, from the 
country around. A council of war was held, 
which at once decided it was best to advance 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 291 

toward San Diego in the morning, with the 
hope of soon receiving additions to their forces. 
Gen. Kearney had dispatched three men to San 
Diego, with messages to Commodore Stockton, 
and before the battle commenced, they had 
come back within sight of their comrades, 
when they were taken prisoners by the enemy ; 
and whether they had succeeded in getting 
through to San Diego, Gen. Kearney did not 
know. Early in the morning, the command 
was again upon its way, with the following 
order of march : Carson, with twenty-five still 
able-bodied men, formed the advance, and the 
remainder, a much crippled band of soldiers, 
followed in the trail that he had made. Their 
march was continued all the morning, in the 
constant expectation of an attack from the 
Mexicans, who were also moving on, sometimes 
out of sight in the valleys, and sometimes seen 
from the neighboring hills. When the first 
opportunity occurred. Gen. Kearney demanded 
a parley, and arranged to exchange a lieutenant, 
whose horse had been shot from under him 
during the battle, and who had consequently 
fallen into the hands of the Americans, for one 
of the express messengers the Mexicans were 
detaining ; but it availed nothing, for the ex- 
pressman stated that, finding it impossible to 



292 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOT^. 

reach San Diego, he and his companions had 
returned, when the/ were captured by the 
Mexicans. 

The Mexicans had been manceuvering all 
day, and toward evening, as the Americans 
were about going into camp by a stream of 
water, came down upon them in two divisions, 
making a vigorous charge. The Americans 
were obliged to retire before such vastly 
superior numbers, and marched in order to a 
tiill a little distance off, where they halted to 
give the Mexicans battle ; but the latter, seeing 
the advantage of the position, drew off to a 
neighboring height, where they commenced and 
continued a deadly cannonade upon the Ameri- 
cans. A party of Americans was sent to dis- 
lodge them, which they accomplished, and the 
whole force of the Americans went over to 
occupy that position, as they were compelled to 
make a resting place somewhere, because it was 
no longer possible for them to continue their 
march, with the Mexican force ready at any 
time to fall upon them. Upon this hill there 
was barely water enough for the men, and to 
take the horses to the stream could not bo 
thought of, for the Mexicans would surely cap- 
ture them ; nor had they any food left, except 
as they killed and ate their mules. 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 293 

The condition of the party had become ex- 
tremely desperate, and the war council that 
was called, discussed a variety of measures, 
equally desperate with their condition, for im- 
mediate relief, until, when the rest had made 
their propositions, Carson again showed him- 
self '^ the right man in the right place," and 
when all besides were hopeless, was the salva- 
tion of his party. He rose in the council and 
said : 

" Our case is a desperate one, but there is yet 
hope. If we stay here, we are all dead men ; 
our animals cannot last long, and the soldiers 
and marines at San Diego do not know of our 
coming. But if they receive information of our 
position, they would hasten to our rescue. 
There is no use in thinking why or how we. are 
here, but only of our present and speedy es- 
cape. I will attempt to go through the Mexi- 
can lines, and will then go to San Diego, and 
send relief from Commodore Stockton." 

Lieutenant Beale, of the United States l^avj, 
at once seconded Carson, and volunteered to 
accompany him. 

Lieutenant Beale is now widely known for 
his valuable services to the country, and, as an 
explorer, he has few equals in the world. 

The writer is informed that he is now deeply 



294 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CAESON. 

interested in a wagon road across the country 
by the route he had just crossed, at the time 
of which we write. His life has been full of 
strange adventures, since he left the service of 
the seas. 

Gen. Kearney immediately accepted the pro- 
posal of Carson and Lieutenant Beale, as his 
only hope, and they started at once, as soon as 
the cover of darkness was hung around them. 
Their mission was to be one of success or of 
death to themselves, and the whole force. Car- 
son was familiar with the custom of the Mexi- 
cans, as well as the Indians, of putting their 
ear to the ground to detect any sound, and 
knew, therefore, the necessity of avoiding the 
slightest noise. As this was not possible, 
wearing their shoes, they removed them, and 
putting them under their belts, crept on over 
the bushes and rocks, with the greatest caution 
and silence. 

The\ discovered that the Mexicans had three 
rows of sentinels, whose beats extended past 
each other, embracing the hill where Kearney 
and his command were held in siege. They 
were, doubtless, satisfied that they could not 
be eluded. But our messengers crept on, often 
60 near a sentinel as to see his figure and 
equipment in the darkness ; and once, when 



LIFE OF CRHRISTOPHER CARSON. 295 

within a few yards of them, one of the senti- 
nels had dismounted and lighted his cigaretto 
with his flint and steel. Kit Carson seeing 
this, as he lay flat on the ground, had put his 
foot back and touched Lieutenant Beale, a sig- 
nal to be still as he was doing. The minutes 
the Mexican was occupied in this way, seemed 
hours to our heroes, who expected they were 
discovered ; and Carson affirms that tliey were 
so still he could hear Lieutenant Beale's heart 
pulsate, and in the agony of the time he lived 
a year. But the Mexican finally mounted his 
horse, and rode off in a contrary direction, as 
if he were guided by Providence, to give safety 
to these courageous adventurers. For full two 
miles Kit Carson and Lieutenant Beale* thus 
worked their way along, upon their hands and 
knees, turning their eyes in every direction to 
detect any thing which might lead to their dis- 
covery, and having past the last sentinel, and 
left the lines sufficiently behind them, they felt 
an immeasurable relief in once more gaining 
their feet. 

But their shoes were gone, and in the ex- 
citement of the journey, neither of them had 
thought of their shoes since they first put them 
in their belts ; but they could speak again, and 
congratulate each other that the imminent 



296 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSOK. 

danger was past, and thank heaven that the} 
had been aided thus far. But there were 
still abundant difficulties, as their path was 
rough with bushes, from the necessity of 
avoiding the well-trodden trail lest they be 
detected; and the prickly pear covered the 
ground, and its thorns penetrated their feet at 
every step ; and their road was lengthened by 
going around out of the direct path, though 
the latter would have shortened their journey 
many a weary mile. All the day following 
they pursued their journey, and on still, 
without cessation, into the night following, for 
they could not stop until assured that relief 
was to be furnished to their anxious and peril- 
ous !lf^ditioned fellow soldiers. 

Carson had pursued so straight a course, and 
aimed so correctly for his mark, that they en- 
tered the town by the most direct passage, and 
answering " friends" to the challenge of the 
sentinel, it was known from whence they came, 
and they were at once conducted to Commo- 
dore Stockton, to whom they related the errand 
on which they had come, and the further par- 
ticulars we have described. 

Commodore Stockton immediately detailed a 
force of nearly two hundred men, and with his 



LIFE OF CTIEISTOPHER CARSON. 297 

usual promptness, ordered them to seek tlieir 
besieged countrymen by forced marches. 

They took with them a piece of ordnance, 
which the m^ were obliged to draw them- 
selv^es, as there were in readiness no animals 
to be had. Carson did not return with them, 
as his feet were in a terrible condition, and he 
needed to rest or he might lose them, but he 
described the position of General Kearney so 
accurately, that the party to relieve him would 
find him with no difficulty; and yet, if the 
Commodore had expressed the wish, he would 
have undertaken to conduct the relief party 
upon its march. 

Lieutenant Beale was partially deranged for 
several days, from the effects of this severe 
service, and was sent on board the frigate lying 
in port for medical attendance ; but he did not 
fully recover his former physical health for 
more than two years ; but he never spoke re- 
gretfully of an undertaking, which was not ex- 
celled by any feat performed in the Mexican 
war. 

The reinforcement reached General Kearney 
without a collision with the Mexicans, and very 
soon all marched to San Diego, where the 
wounded soldiers received medical attendance. 

We have spoken of the superiority of char- 



298 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

acter of the California Mexicans over that of 
the inhabitants of the other Mexican States. 
The officials appointed at the Mexican capital 
for this State, were treated deferentially or 
cavalierly, as they consulted or disregarded the 
wishes of the people, and often it happened 
that a Governor-General of California was put 
on board a ship at Monterey, and directed to 
betake himself back to those who sent him. 

California was so remote from the head- 
quarters of the general government, that these 
things were done with impunity, for it would 
have been difficult to send a force into the State 
that could subdue it, with its scattered popula- 
tion, and if laws obnoxious to them were en- 
acted, and they violated them, or expelled an 
official who proposed their enforcement, it was 
quietly overlooked. Managing their own affairs 
in this way, a spirit of independence and bold 
daring had been cultivated, especially since 
the time when our story of California life com- 
menced in Carson's first visit to that State, nor 
had the intercourse with Americans hitherto 
lessened these feelings, for the California Mex- 
icans admired the Americans, as they called 
them, and cultivated good fellowship with them 
generally ; so that we see when the Bear Flag 
and Independence of the State became tho 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 299 

order under Fremont and his party, many of 
its leading citizens came at once into the ar- 
rangement, or were parties in it at the first. 

Had the conquest and government of the 
country been conducted wholly by Fremont, it 
would have exhibited very little expenditure 
of life, for conciliation and the cultivation of 
kindly feeling was the policy he pursued ; in- 
deed, with Carson as prime counselor, whose 
wife at home in Taos owned kindred with this 
people as one of the same race, how could it 
have been otherwise ! though as Americans and 
citizens of the United States, in whose employ 
they acted, first allegiance was ever cheerfully 
accorded to their country, by Carson equally 
with Fremont, as the history of California most 
fully prov^es. 

The United States forces at San Diego were 
not in condition to again take the field, until a 
number of weeks had elapsed, when a comirffend 
of six hundred had been organized for the pur- 
pose of again capturing Los Angelos, where 
the Mexican forces were concentrated ; and 
General Kearney and Commodore Stockton 
were united in conducting it, and in two days 
arrived within fifteen miles of the town, near 
where the Mexican army, to the number of 
seven hundred, had established themselves 



300 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

strongly upon a hill beside their camp, an^. 
between whom and the Americans flowed > 
stream of water. 

General Kearney ordered two pieces of ar 
tillery planted where they would rake the po 
sition of the Mexicans, which soon forced them 
to break up their camp, when Gen. Kearney 
and Commodore Stockton immediately marched 
into the town, but only to find it destitute of 
any military control, as the Mexican army had 
gone northward to meet Col. Fremont, who had 
left Monterey with a force of four hundred 
Americans, to come to Los Angelos. 

The Mexicans found Col. Fremont, and laid 
down their arms to him, probabl}^ preferring to 
give him the honor of the victory rather than 
Gen. Kearney, though if this was or was not the 
motive, history now sayeth not. Col. Fremont 
continued his march and came to Los Angelos, 
and as the fighting for the present certainly 
was over, he and his men rested here for the 
winter, where Carson, who had been rendering 
all the aid in his power to Gen. Kearney, now 
gladly joined his old commander. 

The position of the American forces, had the 
camps been harmonious, was as comfortable 
and conducive to happiness during the winter 
as it was possible for it to be, and the Mexican 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 301 

citizens of Los Angelos had been so conciliated, 
the time might have passed pleasantly. But, 
as we have intimated, Gen. Kearney had a 
general contempt for the Mexicans, and his 
position in the camp forbade those pleasant 
civilities which had commenced in San Diego 
before his arrival, and would have been prose- 
cuted in Los Angelos, to the advantage of all 
concerned ; for, as many of the men in Fre- 
mont's camp were old residents of the country, 
and known and respected by the Mexican 
citizens, wdth whom some of them had con- 
tracted intimate social relations, it is not 
wonderful that the Mexican officers and sol- 
diers chose to lay down their arms to him 
and his command. Fremont had beside, at 
the instigation of Carson as well as of his own 
inclination, taken every reasonable opportunity 
to gratify their love of social life, by joining in 
their assemblies as opportunity offered; and 
for this, as well as his magnanimous courao-e, 
we can appreciate their choice in giving him 
the palm of victory. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Events transpire rapidly when a country is 
m a state of revolution. Early in March of 
'46 the little party of explorers received the 
^' first hostile message" from General Castro — 
the Comynandant General of California — which, 
though really a declaration of war, upon a 
party sent out by the United States Govern- 
ment on a purely scientific expedition, had 
been received and acted upon by Fremont with 
moderation, and actual war had not been de- 
clared until July, when Sonoma was taken, and 
the flag of Independence hoisted on the fourth 
of that month, and Fremont elected Governor 
of California. 

While hearing indefinitely of these events, 
Commodore Sloat, who, with the vessels be- 
longing to his command, was lying at Mon- 
terey, had hoisted the flag of the United 
States over that city, anticipating any com- 
mand to do so on the part of his government, 
(302) 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 303 

and anticipating also the action of the com- 
mander of the British ship of war, sent for a 
similar purpose, which arrived at Monterey 
on the 19th of July, under the command of 
Sir George Seymour ; one of whose officers, in 
a book published by him after his return to 
England, describes the entrance of Fremont 
and his party into Monterey as follows : 

" During our stay in Monterey," says Mr, 
Walpole, " Captain Fremont and his party ar- 
rived. They naturally excited curiosity. Here 
were true trappers, the class that produced the 
heroes of Fennimore Cooper's best works. 
These men had passed years in the wilds, 
living upon their own resources ; they were a 
curious set. A vast cloud of dust appeared 
first, and thence in long file emerged this 
wildest wild party. Fremont rode ahead, a 
spare, active-looking man, with such an eye ! 
He was dressed in a blouse and leggings, and 
wore a felt hat. After him came five Dela- 
ware Indians, who were his body-guard, and 
have been with him through all his wander- 
ings ; they had charge of two baggage horses. 
The rest, many of them blacker than the In- 
dians, rode two and two, the rifle held by one 
hand across the pommel of the saddle. Thir- 
ty-nine of them are his regular men, the rest 



304 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CARSON. 

are loafers picked up lately ; his original men 
are principally backwoodsmen, from the State 
of Tennessee and the banks of the upper 
waters of the Missouri. He has one or two 
with him who enjoy a high reputation in the 
prairies. Kit Carson is as well known there 
as 'the Duke' is in Europe. The dress of 
these men was principally a long loose coat of 
deer skin, tied with thongs in front ; trowsers 
of the same, of their own manufacture, which, 
when wet through, they take oif, scrape well 
inside with a knife, and put on as soon as dry ; 
the saddles were of various fashions, though 
these and a large drove of horses, and a brass 
field-gun, were things they had picked up 
about California. They are allowed no liquor, 
tea and sugar only ; this, no doubt, has much 
to do with their good conduct ; and the disci- 
pline, too, is very strict. They were marched 
up to an open space on the hills near the town, 
under some large fires, and there took up their 
quarters, in messes of six or seven, in the open 
air. The Indians lay beside their leader. One 
man, a doctor, six feet six high, was an odd- 
looking fellow. May I never come under his 
hands!" 

Commodore Stockton had arrived the same 
day w^itli Fremont and Carson and their com- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CAESON. 305 

mand, and under liim Fremont had been ap- 
pointed General in Chief of the California 
forces, with Carson for his first Lieutenant; 
Stockton assuming the civil office of Governor 
of the country. This had been deemed a 
measure of necessity, from the fact that the 
California Mexicans had not yet learned, from 
the Mexican authorities, the actual delaration 
of war between the United States and Mexico ; 
and therefore looked upon the operations of 
the Americans as the acts of adventurers for 
their own aggrandizement ; and yet, with all 
the intensity of feeling such ideas aroused, 
Fremont and Carson had won their admiration 
and their hearts, by the rapidity of their 
movements, their sudden and effective blows, 
and the effort by dispatch to avoid all cruelty 
and bloodshed as far as possible. 

In this way had San Diego, San Pedro, Los 
Angelos, Santa Barbara, and the whole coun- 
try, as the Mexican authorities declared, come 
into the possession of Commodore Stockton 
and General Fremont, as a conquered territory, 
taken in behalf of the United States; and the 
whole work been completed in about sixty days 
from the time the first blow was struck ; and 
when all -was accomplished, and the conquest 
complete, Carson started upon his errand to 
20 



306 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 

communicate tlie intelligence to the general 
government at Washington ; with the know- 
ledge that all the leading citizens of California, 
native as well as the American settlers, were 
friendly to Fremont, and on his account to 
Commodore Stockton. 

During the three months of Carson's absence, 
events had transpired that made it necessary 
to do this work over again, resulting in a 
measure from the indiscretions of American 
officers, which induced insurrection on the part 
of the Mexicans. The arrival of General 
Kearney with United States troops still further 
excited them, and produced results which were 
everything but pleasant to Fremont and Com- 
modore Stockton, the details of which we for- 
bear to give, simply saying that Carson's re- 
gard for Fremont showed itself by his return 
to his service, and doing all that he could to 
forward his interests, and in his often attend- 
ing him in his excursions. Fremont's com- 
mand was an independent battalion ; and con- 
cerning the last and final contest, General 
Kearney thus wrote to the War Department : 

" This morning, Lieutenant-Colonel Fre- 
mont, of the regiment of mounted riflemen, 
reached here with four hundred volunteers 
from the Sacramento; the enemy capitulated 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 307 

With him yesterday, near San Fernando, agree- 
ing to lay down their arms ; and we have now 
the prospect of having peace and quietness in 
this country, which 1 hope may not be inter- 
rupted again." 

It was during Carson's absence, en route for 
Washington, that Fremont accomplished the 
most extraordinary feat of physical energy and 
endurance ever recorded. We find it in the 
"JN'ational Intelligencer," of November 22, 1847, 
and quote it entire, as illustrating not only the 
physical powers of human endurance produced 
by practice and culture, but the wonderful 
sagacity and enduring qualities of the Califor- 
nia horses : 

" The Extraordinary Ride of Lieut. Col. Fremont, 
HIS FRIEND Don Jesus Pico, and his Servant, Jacob 

DODSON, FROM LoS AnGELOS TO MONTEREY AND BaCK 

IN March, 1847. 

"This extraordinary ride of 800 miles in 
eight days, including all stoppages and near 
two days' detention — a whole day and a night 
at Monterey, and nearly two half days at San 
Luis Obispo — having been brought into evi- 
dence before the Army Court Martial now in 
session in this city, and great desire being ex- 
pressed by some friends to know how the ride 



308 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

was made, I herewith send you the particulars, 
that you may publish them, if you please, in 
the National Intelligencer, as an incident con- 
nected with the times and affairs under review 
in the trial, of which you give so full a report. 
The circumstances were first got from Jacob, 
afterwards revised by Col. Fremont, and I 
drew them up from his statement. 

" The publication will show, besides the 
horsemanship of the riders, the power of the 
California horse, especially as one of the horses 
was subjected, in the course of the ride, to an 
extraordinary trial, in order to exhibit the 
capacity of his race. Of course this statement 
will make no allusion to the objects of the 
journey, but be confined strictly to its per- 
formance. 

" It was at daybreak on the morning of the 
22d of March, that the party set out from La 
Ciudad de los Angelos (the city of the Angels) 
in the southern part of Upper California, to 
proceed, in the shortest time, to Monterey on 
the Pacific coast, distant full four hundred 
miles. The way is over a mountainous coun- 
try, much of it uninhabited, with no other road 
than a trace, and many defiles to pass, particu- 
larly the maritime defile of el Bincon or Punto 
Gordo, fifteen miles in extent, made by the 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOIT. 309 

jutting of a precipitous mountain into the sea, 
and which can only be passed when the tide is 
out and the sea calm, and then in many places 
through the waves. The towns of Santa Bar- 
bara and San Luis Obispo, and occasional 
ranches, are the principal inhabited places on 
the route. Each of the party had three horses, 
nine in all, to take their turns under the saddle. 
The six loose horses ran .ahead, without bridle 
or halter, and required some attention to keep 
to the track. When wanted for a change, say 
at the distance of twenty miles, they were 
caught by the lasso ^ thrown either by Don Jesus 
or the servant Jacob, who, though born in 
Washington, in his long expeditions with Col. 
Fremont, had become as expert as a Mexican 
with the lasso, as sure as the mountaineer with 
the rifle, equal to either on horse or foot, and 
always a lad of courage and fidelity. 

" None of the horses were shod, that being a 
practice unknown to the Californians. The 
most usual gait was a sweeping gallop. The 
first day they ran one hundred and twenty-five 
miles, passing the San Fernando mountain, the 
defile of the Rincon, several other mountains, 
and slept at the hospitable ranche of Don 
Thomas Robberis, beyond the town of Santa 
Barbara. The only fatigue complained of in 



310 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

this day's ride, was in Jacob's right arm, made 
tired by throwing the lasso, and using it as a 
whip to keep the loose horses to the track. 

*' The next day they made another one hun- 
dred and twenty-five miles, passing the formi- 
dable mountain of Santa Barbara, and counting 
upon it the skeletons of some fifty horses, part 
of near double that number which perished in 
the crossing of that terrible mountain by the 
California battalion, on Christmas day, 1846, 
amidst a raging tempest, and a deluge of rain 
and cold more killing than that of the Sierra 
Nevada — the day of severest suffering, say 
Fremont and his men, that they have ever 
passed. At sunset, the party stopped to sup 
with the friendly Capt. Dana, and at nine at 
night San Luis Obispo was reached, the home 
of Don Jesus, and where an affecting reception 
awaited Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont, in con- 
sequence of an incident which occurred there 
that history will one day record ; and he was 
detained till 10 o'clock in the morning receiving 
the visits of the inhabitants, (mothers and 
children included,) taking a breakfast of honor, 
and waitinsj for a relief of fresh horses to be 
brought in from the surrounding country. 
Here the nine horses from Los Angelos were 
left, and eight others taken in their place, %nd 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 311 

a li^panish boy added to the party to assist in 
managing the loose horses. 

" Proceeding at the usual gait till eight 
at night, and having made some seventy miles, 
Don Jesus, who had spent the night before 
with his family and friends, and probably with 
but little sleep, became fatigued, and proposed 
a halt for a few hours. It was in the valley of 
the Salinas (salt river called Buena Ventura in 
the old maps,) and the haunt of marauding 
Indians. For safety during their repose, the 
party turned off the trace, issued through a 
canon into a thick wood, and laid down, the 
horses being put to grass at a short distance, 
with the Spanish boy in the saddle to watch. 
Sleep, when commenced, was too sweet to be 
easily given up, and it was half way between 
midnight and day, when the sleepers were 
aroused by an estamjpedo among the horses, and 
the calls of the boy. The cause of the alarm 
was soon found, not Indians, but white bears — 
this valley being their great resort, and the 
place where Col. Fremont and thirty-five of 
his men encountered some hundred of them 
the summer before, killing thirty upon the 
ground. 

" The character of these bears is well known, 
and the bravest hunters do not like to meet 



3^2 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARS01I9". 

them without the advantage of numbers. On 
discovering the enemy, Col. Fremont felt for 
his pistols, but Don Jesus desired him to lie 
still, saying that ' people could scare bears ;* 
and immediately hallooed at them in Spanish, 
and they went oif. Sleep went off also ; and 
the recovery of the horses frightened by the 
bears, building a rousing fire, making a break- 
fast from the hospitable supplies of San Luis 
Obispo, occupied the party till daybreak, when 
the journey was resumed. Eighty miles, and 
the afternoon brought the party to Monterey. 
" The next day, in the afternoon, the party 
set out on their return, and the two horses rode 
by Col. Fremont from San Luis Obispo, being 
a present to him from Don Jesus, he (Don 
Jesus) desired to make an experiment of what 
one of them could do. They were brothers,, 
one a grass younger than the other, both of the 
same color, (cinnamon,) and hence called el 
canalo, or los canalos, (the cinnamon or the cin- 
namons.) The elder was to be taken for the 
trial ; and the journey commenced upon him 
at leaving Monterey, the afternoon well ad* 
vanced. Thirty miles under the saddle done 
that evening, and the party stopped for the 
night. In the morning, the elder canalo was 
again under the saddle for Col. Fremont, and 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 313 

for ninety miles he carried him withe ut a 
cljange, and without apparent fatigue. It w^as 
still thirty miles to San Luis Obispo, where 
the night was to be passed, and Don Jesus in- 
sisted that canalo could do it, and so said the 
horse by his looks and action. But Col. Fre- 
mont would not put him to the trial, and, 
shifting the saddle to the younger brother, the 
elder was turned loose to run the remaining 
thirty miles without a rider. He did so, im- 
mediately taking the lead and keeping it all 
the way, and entering San Luis in a sweeping 
gallop, nostrils distended, snuffing the air, and 
neighing with exultation at his return to his 
native pastures ; his younger brother all the 
time at the head of the horses under the 
saddle, bearing on his bit, and held in by his 
rider. The whole eight horses made their one 
hundred and twenty miles each that day, (after 
thirty the evening before,) the elder cinnamon 
making ninety of his under the saddle that 
day, besides thirty under the saddle the 
evening before; nor was there the least doubt 
that he would have done the whole distance in 
the same time if he had continued under the 
saddle. 

" After a hospitable detention of another 
half a day at San Luis Obispo, the party set 



314 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER OARSON. 

out for Los Angelos, on the same nine horses 
which they had rode from that place, and 
made the ride back in about the same time 
they had made it up, namely, at the rate of 125 
miles a day. 

" On this ride, the grass on the road was the 
food for the horses. At Monterey they had 
barley ; but these horses, meaning those 
trained and domesticated^ as the canalos were, 
eat almost anything of vegetable food, or even 
drink, that their master uses, by whom they 
are petted and caressed, and rarely sold. 
Bread, fruit, sugar, coffee, and even wine, (like 
the Persian horses,) they take from the hand 
of their master, and obey with like docility his 
slightest intimation. A tap of the whip on the 
saddle, springs them into action ; the check of 
a thread rein (on the Spanish bit) would stop 
them : and stopping short at speed they do not 
jostle the rider or throw him forward. They 
leap on anything — man, beast, or weapon, on 
which their master directs them. But this 
description, so far as conduct and behavior are 
concerned, of course only applies to the trained 
and domesticated horse. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

During the autumn of 1846, Fremont had 
had no time to visit his Mariposa purchase ; 
but in the winter, while at Los Angelos, in- 
viting Carson and Godey and two of his Dela- 
ware Indians, and his constant attendant Dob- 
son, to take a tramp with him for hunting, in 
the time of sunny skies in February, he ex- 
tended his hunt thither, and accomplished the 
discovery that he had a well-wooded and well- 
watered — for California well watered — tract 
of land, of exceeding beauty, clothed, as it was 
at this season, with a countless variety of flow- 
ering plants, these being the grasses of the 
country, and seemingly well adapted for tillage, 
certainly an excellent spot for an immense 
cattle ranche. They killed deer and antelope 
and smaller game, and with the lasso captured 
a score of wild horses from a drove of hundreds 
that fled at their approach ; returning to Los 

(315) 



316 LIFE CF ^HF^ISTOrCEI^ CARSON. 

Angelos VjUiic a week from the time of then 
departure, laden with the spoils of the chase. 
IVor could tiiese busy men refuse the kindly 
hospitalities tendered them by the old and 
wealthy natives of Los Angelos. We have 
described their style of life as Carson had wit- 
nessed it in 1828 ; and now at a ball given by 
Don Pio Pico — for the fandango of the Mexi- 
can is a part of his life, and with all his re- 
verses of fortune it must come in for its place 
— Carson and Fremont are of course guests, 
and Lieutenant Gillespie, and some other of 
the American officers. As the company was a 
mixed one, we will not attempt a description, 
out quote from Bayard Taylor's California, a 
scene of a similar kind at the close of the Con- 
stitutional Convention, about two years later, 
Avhen, with the discovery of gold, California 
had a population sufficient to demand a State 
government, and made one for herself, and 
prepared to knock for admission into the Union 
of States. In this Convention were the old 
fathers of California, American army officers, 
and some more recent arrivals ; and well was 
it for California that the steps for the organi- 
zation of her State government were taken so 
early, when the fact of Mexicans and natives 
having a claim was not ignored, as it might 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHEB CARSOT^. 317 

have been at a later date by the reckless ad- 
venturers who thronged the golden shore. 

But it is only the ball at the close of the 
Convention we propose to describe, at which 
Col. Fremont and David C. Broderick were 
present, as members of the Convention. 

" The morning Convention was short and ad- 
journed early yesterday, on account of a ball 
given by the Convention to the citizens of Mon- 
terey. The members, by a contribution of $25 
each, raised the sum of $1,100 to provide for 
the entertainment, which was got up in re- 
turn for that given by the citizens about four 
weeks since. 

" The Hall was*cleared of the forms and 
tables, and decorated with young pines from 
the forest. At each end were the American 
colors tastefully disposed across the boughs. 
Then chandeliers, neither of bronze or cut- 
glass, but neat and brilliant withal, poured 
their light upon the festivities. At eight 
o'clock — the fashionable hour in Monterey — 
the guests began to assemble, and in an hour 
afterward the Hall was crowded with nearly 
all the Californian and American residents. 
There were sixty ladies present, and an equal 
number of gentlemen, in addition to the mem- 
bers of the Convention The dark-eyed daugh- 



318 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEE CAESON". 

ters of Monterey, Los Angelos, and Santfi 
Barbara mingled in pleasing contrast with the 
fairer bloom of the trans-JN'evadian belles. 
The variety of feature and complexion was 
fully equaled by the variety of dress. In the 
whirl of the waltz, a plain, dark, nun-like robe 
would be followed by one of pink satin and 
gauze ; next, perhaps, a bodice of scarlet velvet, 
with gold buttons, and then a rich figured bro- 
cade, such as one sees on the stately dames of 
Titian. 

"The dresses of the gentlemen showed con- 
siderable variety, but were much less pictu- 
resque. A complete ball- dress was a happi- 
ness attained only by a fortunate few, many 
appearing in borrowed robes. *"- 

" The appearance of the company, neverthe- 
less, was genteel and respectable ; and perhaps 
the genial, unrestrained social spirit, that pos- 
sessed all present, would have been less, had 
there been more uniformity of costume. Gen. 
Riley was there in full uniform, with the yel- 
low sash he wore at Contreras ; Mayors Canby, 
Hill, and Smith, Captains Burton, and Kane, 
and the other officers stationed at Monterey, ac- 
companying him. In one group might be seen 
Capt. Sutter's soldierly mustache and blue eye, 
in another the erect figure and quiet, dignified 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEK CARSON. 319 

bearing of Gen. Yallejo ; Don Peblo de la 
Guerra, with liis handsome, aristocratic fea- 
tures, was the floor manager, and gallantly 
discharged his office. Conspicuous among the 
members were Don Miguel de Rodrazena, and 
Jacinto Rodriguez, both polished gentlemen 
and deservedly popular. Dominguez, the In- 
dian member, took no part in the dance, but 
evidently enjoyed the scene as much as any 
one present. The most interesting figure to 
me, was that of Padre Remisez, who, in his 
clerical cassock, looked on until a late hour. 
If the strongest advocate of priestly gravity 
and decorum had been present, he could not 
have found in his heart to grudge the good old 
padre the pleasure that beamed from his 
honest countenance. 

" The band consisted of two violins and two 
guitars, whose music made up in spirit what it 
lacked in skill. They played, as it seemed to 
me, but three pieces alternately, for waltz, con- 
tra-dance, and quadrille. The latter dance 
was evidently an unfamiliar one, for once or 
twice the music ceased in the middle of the 
figure. The etiquette of the dance was marked 
by that grave, stately courtesy, which has been 
handed down from the old Spanish times. The 
gentlemen invariably gave the ladies their 



320 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON 

hand to lead them to their places on the floor ; 
in the pauses of the dance both parties stood 
motionless side by side, and at the conclusion 
the lady was gravely led back to her seat. 

'^ At twelve o'clock supper was announced. 
The Court room in the lower story had been 
fitted up for the purpose, and as it w^as not 
large enough to admit all the guests, the ladies 
were first conducted thither, and waited upon 
by a select committee. The refresliH^ents con- 
sisted of turkey, roast-pig, beef, tongue, and 
jpates^ with wines and liquors of various sorts, 
and colfee. A large sujDply had been provided 
but after everybody was served, there was not 
much remaining. The ladies began to leave 
about two o'clock, but an hour later the dance 
was still going on with spirit." 

The dance at the home of Pico, was after 
the same fashion — and similar to those we have 
mentioned as the constant amusement of the 
people at Taos, where Carson resided, and in 
all the Mexican cities. 

But Carson was too valuable an aid to be 
long allowed to be idle. In March, 1847, he 
was ordered to be the bearer of important dis- 
patches to the War Department at Washing- 
ton, and Lieutenant Beale was directed to ac- 
company him with dispatches for the Depart- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 321 

ment of the Navy. The latter was still so 
much an invalid as to require Carson to lift 
him on and off his horse for the first twenty 
days of the journey, but Carson's genial spirits 
and kindly care, with the healthful exercise of 
horsemanship, recovered him rapidly ; and the 
country was so well known to Carson, that they 
avoided collisions with the Indians by eluding 
their haunts ; except once ujDon the Gila, when 
they were attacked in the night, and a shower 
of arrows sent among them as they lay in 
camp, from which his men had escaped, being 
injured by holding their packsaddles before 
them. They stopped briefly at Taos, and pur- 
sued their journey so rapidly that the two 
thousand five hundred miles on horseback, 
and the fifteen hundred by railroad, were accom- 
plished in less than three months. 

The incidents of such a journey had become 
every-day scenes to Carson, so that their nar- 
ration would seem to him a waste of words on 
the part of his biographer. And yet the emo- 
tions with which he witnessed, for the first 
time, the monument of advancing civilization 
in the Eastern cities, and the zest with which 
he enjoyed the social comforts of the hospitality 
aflbrded him at the homes of Lieutenant Beale 

and Col. Benton, can be better imagined than 
21 



322 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

described. He had taken but a small supply 
of provisions from Los Angelos, lest it should 
be cumbersome to him, and as the road lay 
often through a country destitute of game, there 
liad been fasting on the way, sometimes days 
together ; but his party, which he had selected, 
making their ability to endure such an enter- 
prise a leading quality of commendation to 
him, bore all without a murmur ; stimulated 
by the one impulse, of reaching their homes and 
friends, while Carson cared to secure the appro- 
bation of those whom he served, and the con- 
sciousness of having been an honor to his 
country. 

Col. Benton met him at St. Louis, and reach- 
ing Washington, Mrs. Fremont was at the 
depot to take him to her's and her father's 
home. She waited for no introduction, but at 
once approached him, calling him by name, and 
telling him she should have known him from 
her husband's description. After a brief tarry 
in Washington, a lion himself and introduced 
to all the lions, he departed with Lieutenant 
Beale for St. Louis, but business detained the 
latter who went later by sea ; while Carson, 
whom President Polk had made a Lieutenant 
in the army, with fifty troops under his com- 
raand to take through the Camanche country, 



LIFE OF CHKISTOPHER CARSON. 323 

again commenced his journey across tlie prai- 
ries, having a battle with these Indians as was 
expected, for they were at war with the whites 

This did not occur, however, until near the 
Rocky Mountains, near the place called " The 
Point of Rocks," on the Santa Fe trail, which 
place is regarded as one of the most dangerous 
in the New Mexican country, because affording 
shelter for ambush at a place where the travel 
has to pass a spur of rocky hills, at Avhose base 
is found the water and camp ground travelers 
seek, and where unwritten history counts many 
a battle. 

Arriving here, Carson found a company of 
United States volunteers, and went into camp 
near them. Early in the morning the animals 
of the volunteer company were captured by a 
band of Indians, while the men were taking 
them to a spot of fresh pasture. The herders 
were Avithout arms, and in the confusion the 
cattle came into Carson's camp, who, with his 
men, were ready with their rifles, and recap- 
tured the cattle from the Indians, but the 
horses of the picketing party were successfully 
stampeded. 

Several of the thieves had been mortally 
wounded, as the signs after their departure 
showed, l^ut the Indian custom of tying the 



324 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

wounded upon their horses, prevented taking 
the Indian's trophy of victory, the scalp, and 
the object of the Indians in their assaults. 
The success of the Arab-like Camanches is well 
illustrated by this skirmish, giving best assur- 
ance that Carson, who was never surprised in 
this whole journey, possessed that element of 
caution so requisite in a commander in such a 
country. 

Of the two soldiers whose turn it had been 
to stand guard this morning, it was found that 
one was sleeping when the alarm was given, 
and when it was reported to Carson, he at once 
administered the Chinook method of punish- 
ment — the dress of a squaw — for that day, and 
resuming his journey, arrived safely in Santa 
Fe, where he left the soldiers, and hired sixteen 
men of his own choosing, to make with him the 
remainder of the journey, as he had been or- 
dered at Fort Leavenworth. To his great joy, 
his family were here to meet him, as he had 
requested. Upon "Virgin River, he had to com- 
mand the obedience of Indians who came into 
his camp and left it tardily, by firing upon 
them, which required some nerve and experi- 
ence in a leader of so small a party, while the 
Indians numbered three hundred warriors 
They arrived at Los Angelos without further 



LIFE OF CHKISTOPHER CARSON. 325 

incident than the killing and eating of two 
mules, to eke out their scanty subsistence, in 
the destitution of game and time to hunt it ; 
whence Carson proceeded to Monterey, to de- 
liver his dispatches at headquarters, and re- 
turned to the duty assigned him as an acting 
Lieutenant in the United States Army, in the 
company of dragoons under Capt. Smith, allow- 
ing himself no time to recruit ; and soon he was 
sent with a command of twenty-five dragoons, 
to the Tejon Pass, to examine the papers and 
cargoes of Indians passing this point, the route 
which most of the Indian depredators took in 
passing in and out of California ; and here he 
did much good service during the winter. 

In the spring he again went overland to 
Washington with dispatches, meeting no serious 
difficulty till he came to the Grand River, where 
in the time of spring flood he was obliged to 
construct a raft, and the second load over was 
swamped, the men barely saving their lives, 
which rendered his party destitute of comforts 
in their onward journey, but arriving at Taos 
he stopped with his family, and at his own 
home gave his men a few days to recruit, and 
himself the luxury of intercourse with his 
family and friends, which no one enjoys more 
than Christopher Carson. 



326 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON". 

Tliey had encountered several hundred In« 
dians of the Apaches and Utahs, whom Carson 
told he had nothing to give, and upon whom 
the appearance of his men gave assurance they 
would make little by attacking. At Santa Fe, 
Carson learned that his appointment as Lieu- 
tenant by the President had not been confirmed 
by the Senate, and his friends advised him not 
to carry the dispatches any further ; but Carson 
was not to be deterred from doing his duty be- 
cause the honor he deserved was not accorded 
to him, saying that " as he had been selected 
for an important trust, he should do his best to 
fulfill it, if it cost him his life ;'^ and he proceeded 
to Washington, feeling that if ill-usage had 
reached him in connection with Fremont, to 
whom he had been of so much service, it was 
no more than he might have expected ; as, 
for many months past, political considerations 
and rivalries had been seen by him to govern 
the actions of certain men, instead of a care for 
tlie best interests of the country. He had seen 
men in command of troops in the prairies who 
had the least possible knowledge of the country, 
and especially of Indian warfare. He would 
have advised that fror.tier men be chosen for 
such appointments, rather than those simply 
educated in the schools and entirely unaccus- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 327 

tomcd to endure privations, but if others ne- 
glected the wiser course, that was no reason 
why he should not do his duty. 

Learning that the Camanches were upon the 
Santa Fe road, several hundred strong, he re- 
duced his escort to ten choice mountain men, 
and determined upon making a trail of his own 
returned to Taos, and struck over to the head- 
waters of the Platte, and past Fort Kearney to 
Leavenworth, where he left his escort and pro- 
ceeded alone to Washington, and delivering his 
dispatches as directed, returned immediately to 
Leavenworth, and thence to Taos, where he ar- 
rived in October ; and was again at home and 
free from the burdens and responsibilities of 
public life, with the settled purpose of making 
a protracted stay, and providing himself with a 
permanent home. 

Perhaps there is no tribe of Indians besides 
the Seminoles in Florida, that have given the 
United States more trouble than the Apaches, 
in the time that we have held the claim of their 
country ; and the best proof of their bravery 
may be found in the fact that the warriors 
nearly all die in battle. Living in a country 
as healthy as any in the world, and constantly 
occupied in hunting buffalo, or Mexicans and 
whites, with whom they are at war, thev are 



328 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

exceedingly regardful of their national honor, 
and as their mountain retreats are almost in- 
accessible, they have the advantage of regular 
troops, and almost of old mountaineers, only 
as the latter can equal them in numbers. 

Col. Beale was occupying this department at 
the time of which we write, and engaged in an 
effort to chastise the Apaches under Clico Ve- 
lasquez^ their exceedingly blood-thirsty and 
cruel chief, whose habit was to adorn his dress 
with the finger bones of the victims he had 
slaughtered. Col. Beale took charge of the 
command himself, and employed Carson as his 
.guide. They crossed snow mountains to search 
for the Indians, and returning came upon a 
village, which they attacked, and captured a 
large amount of goods and two of the chiefs of 
the tribe, with whom Col. Beale had a long 
talk, and then dismissed to return to their 
tribe, hoping thus to convince them of the mag- 
nanimity of the United States Government, 
when the command returned to Taos to recruit 
his troops. 

Meantime Carson entertained, at his own 
home in Taos, Fremont and his party of suffer- 
ing explorers, who were making a winter survey 
of a pass for a road to California, and by taking 
a difficult mountain pass, had lost all their 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 329 

mules and several of their party. Science is 
not all that is needed for such undertakings, 
and as labor and learning should act in co- 
partnership, to be most effective, so theoretic 
and practical skill should be associated in any 
effort of difficulty, as this trip of Col. Fremont, 
without an experienced mountaineer for a 
guide, proved to him and his men, some of 
whom had fed upon the others who bad 
starved. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

In the last chapter, we left Fremont in the 
hospitable mansion of his old and tried friend 
Carson, after one of the most extraordinary 
journeys ever performed by any man who sur- 
vived to tell its horrors ; and as the names of 
Carson and Fremont are inseparably cemented 
in history, as in friendship, and as the former 
had often endured sufferings almost as great 
as those of his old commander and friend, we 
shall be pardoned if we allude to this journey 
at some length. There is no earthly doubt 
that had Carson been the guide, many valuable 
lives of noble, glorious men might have been 
spared, and sufferings on the part of those 
who survived this disastrous expedition, almost 
Ia)o horrible for belief, avoided. 

Col. Fremont, in a letter written to his wife 
from Taos, the day after his arrival there in a 
famishing condition, and having lost one full 

third of his party by absolute starvation and 

( 330 ) 



LIFE OP CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 331 

freezing, mentions that at Pueblo he engaged 
as a guide, an old trapper of twenty-five years, 
experience, named " Bill Williams," and he 
frankly admits that the " error of his journey 
was committed in engaging this man." 

In narrating some of the incidents of this 
terribly disastrous journey, we shall use, of 
course, the language of those best qualified to 
depict its horrors, i. e., Col. Fremont, and 
Mr. Carvalho, a gentleman of Baltimore, who 
accompanied the expedition as daguerreotypist 
and artist. 

Col. Fremont, in his letter to his wife, treats 
of the subject generally, but when we quote 
from the narrative of Mr. Carvalho, we think 
our readers will admit that such a record of 
human suffering, and human endurance, added 
to such an exhibition of moral and physical 
courage, has never been paralleled. 

Col. Fremont w^rites, (speaking first of Wil- 
liams the guide,) 

" He proved never to have in the least 
known, or entirely to have forgotten, the whole 
region of country through which we w^ere to 
pass. We occupied more than half a month 
in making the journey of a few days, blunder- 
ing a tortuous way through deep snow w^hich 
already began to choke up the passes, for 



332 LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 

which we were obliged to waste time in search- 
ing. About the 11th December we found 
ourselves at the JN'orth of the Del Norte Caiion, 
where that river issues from the St. John's 
Mountain, one of the highest, most rugged 
and impracticable of all the Rocky Mountain 
ranges, inaccessible to trappers and hunters 
even in the summer time. 

*' Across the point of this elevated range our 
guide conducted us, and having still great con- 
fidence in his knowledge, we pressed onwards 
with fatal resolution. Even along the river 
bottoms the snow was already belly deep for 
tlie mules, frequently snowing in the valley 
and almost constantly in the mountains. The 
cold was extraordinary ; at the warmest hours 
of the day (between one and two) the ther- 
mometer (Fahrenheit) standing in the shade 
of only a tree trunk at zero ; the day sun- 
shiny, with a moderate breeze. We pressed 
up towards the summit, the snow deepening; 
and in four or five days reached the naked 
ridges which lie above the timbered country, 
and which form the dividing grounds between 
the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. 

" Along these naked ridges it storms nearly 
all winter, and the winds sweep across them 
with remorseless fury. On our first attempt 



LIFE OF CEHRISTOPHER CARSON. 333 

to cross we encountered a pouderie (dry snow 
driven thick through the air by violent wind, 
and in which objects are visible only at a short 
distance,) and were driven back, having some 
ten or twelve men variously frozen, face, hands, 
or feet. The guide became nigh being frozen 
to death here, and dead mules were already 
lying about the fires. Meantime, it snowed 
steadily. The next day we made mauls, and 
beating a road or trench through the sn uw, 
crossed the crest in defiance of the jpouderU, 
and encamped immediately below in the edge 
of the timber. 

" Westward, the country was buried in deep 
snow. It was impossible to advance, and to 
turn back was equally impracticable. We 
were overtaken by sudden and inevitable ruin, 
and it was instantly apparent that we should 
lose every animal. 

" I determined to recross the mountain more 
towards the open country, and haul or pack 
the baggage (by men) down to the Del JN'orte. 
With great labor the baggage was transported 
across the crest to the* head springs of a little 
stream leading to the main river. A few days 
were sufficient to destroy our fine band of 
mules. They generally kept huddled together, 
and as they froze, one would be seen to tumble 



334 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

down, and the snow would co\er him; some- 
times they would break off and rush down 
towards the timber until they were stopped % 
the deep snow, where they were soon liiddeL 
by the ])ouderie. 

" The courage of the men failed fast ; in 
fact, I have never seen men so soon discouraged 
by misfortune as we were on this occasion ; 
but, as you know, the party was not consti 
tuled like the former ones. B-ut among those 
who deserve to be honorably mentioned, and 
who behaved like what they were — men of the 
old exploring party, — were Godey, King, and 
Taplin ; and first of all Grodey. 

" In this situation, I determined to send in a 
party to the Spanish settlements of 'New 
Mexico for provisions and mules to transport 
our baggage to Taos. With economy, and 
after we should leave the mules, we had not 
two weeks' provisions in the camp. These 
consisted of a store which I had reserved for a 
hard day, macaroni and bacon. From among 
the volunteers I chose King, Brackenridge, 
Creutzfeldt, and the guide Williams ; the party 
under the command of King. In case of the 
least delay at the settlements, he was to send 
me an express. 

Day alter day passed by, and no news from 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CARSON. 335 

our express party. Snow ccntinued to fall 
almost incessantly on the mountain. The 
Spirits of the camp grew lower. Prone laid 
down in the trail and froze to death. In a sun- 
shiny day, and having with him means to make 
a fire, he threw his blankets down in the trail 
and laid there till he froze to death. After 
sixteen days had elapsed from King's depart- 
ure, I became so uneasy at the delay that I 
decided to wait no longer. I was aware thai 
our troops had been engaged in hostilities with 
the Spanish Utahs and Apaches, who range in 
the North River valley, and became fearful 
that they (King's party) had been cut off by 
these Indians ; I could imagine no other acci- 
dent. Leaving the camp employed with the 
baggage and in charge of Mr. Vincenthaler, I 
started down the river with a small party con- 
sisting of Grodey, (with his young nephew,) Mr. 
Preuss and Saunders. We carried our arms 
and provision for two or three days. In the 
camp the messes had provisions for two or 
three meals, more or less ; and about five 
pounds of sugar to each man. Failing to meet 
King, my intention was to make the Red River 
settlement about twenty-five miles north of 
Taos, and send back the speediest relief possi- 
ble. My instructions to the camp were, that 



336 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

if thoy did not hear from me within a stated 
time, they were to follow down the Del Norte. 

"About sunset on the sixth day, we discov- 
ered a little smoke, in a grove of timber off 
from the river, and thinking perhaps it might 
be our express party on its return, we w ent to 
see. This was the twenty-second day since 
they had left us, and the sixth since we had 
left the camp. We found them — three of 
them — Creutzfeldt, Brackenridge, and Wil- 
liams — the most miserable objects I have ever 
seen. I did not recognize Creutzfeldt's features 
when Brackenridge brought him up to me and 
mentioned his name. They had been starving. 
King had starved to death a few days before. 
His remains were some six or eight miles 
above, near the river. By aid of the horses, 
we carried these three men with us to Red 
River settlement, which we reached (Jan. 20,) 
on the tenth evening after leaving our camp in 
the mountains, having traveled through snow 
and on foot one hundred and sixty miles. 

" The morning after reaching the Red River 
town, Grodey and myself rode on to the Rio 
Hondo and Taos, in search of animals and 
supplies, and on the second evening after that 
on which we had reached Red River, Godey 
had returned to that place with about thirty 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHEE CARSON". 337 

animals, provisions, and four Mexicans, with 
which he set out for the camp on the following 
morning. 

" You will remember that I had left the 
camp with occupation sufficient to employ 
them for three or four days, after which they 
were to follow me down the river. Within 
that time I had expected the relief from King, 
if it was to come at all. 

" They remained where 1 had left them seven 
days, and then started down the river. Manuel 
— you will remember Manuel, the Cosumne 
Indian — gave way to a feeling of despair after 
they had traveled about two miles, begged 
Haler to shoot him, and then turned and made 
his way back to the camp ; intending to die 
there, as he doubtless soon did. They followed 
our trail down the river — twenty-two men they 
were in all. About ten miles below the camp, 
Wise gave out, threw away his gun and 
blanket, and a few hundred yards further fell 
over into the snow and died. Two Indian 
boys, young men, countrymen of Manuel, were 
behind. They rolled up Wise in his blanket, 
and buried him in the snow on the river bank. 
N*o more died that day — none the next. Carver 
raved during the night, his imagination wholly 
occupied with images of many things which ho 
22 



338 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON", 

fancied himself eating. In the morning, he 
wandered off from the party, and probablj 
soon died. They did not see him again. 

" Sorel on this day gave out, and laid down 
to die. They built him a fire, and Morin, who 
was in a dying condition, and snow-blind, re- 
mained. These two did not probably last til] 
the next morning. That evening, I think, Hub- 
bard killed a deer. They traveled on, getting 
here and there a grouse, but probably nothing 
else, the snow having frightened off the game. 
Things were desperate, and brought Haler to 
the determination of breaking up the party, in 
order to prevent them from living upon each 
other. He told them ' that he had done all he 
could for them, that they had no other hope 
remaining than the expected relief, and that 
their best plan was to scatter and make the 
best of their way in small parties down the 
river. That, for his part, if he was to be eaten, 
he would, at all events, be found traveling 
when he did die.' They accordingly separated. 

" With Mr. Haler continued five others and 
the two Indian boys. Rohrer now became 
very despondent; Haler encouraged him by 
recalling to mind his family, and urged him to 
hold out a little longer. On this day he fell 
behind, but promised to overtake them at 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 339 

evening. Haler, Scott, Hubbard, and Martin 
agreed that if any one of them should give 
out, the others were not to wait for hini to die, 
but buikl a fire for him, and push on. At 
night, Kern's mess encamped a few hundred 
yards from Haler's, with the intention, accord- 
ing to Taplin, to remain where they were until 
the relief should come, and in the meantime to 
live upon those who had died, and upon the 
weaker ones as they should die. With the 
three Kerns were Cathcart, Andrews, McKie, 
Stepperfeldt, and Taplin. 

" Ferguson and Beadle had remained to- 
gether behind. In the evening, Rohrer came 
up and remained with Kern's mess. Mr. Haler 
learned afterwards from that mess that Rohrer 
and Andrews wandered off the next day and 
died. They say they saw their bodies. In the 
morning Haler's party continued on. After a 
few hours, Hubbard gave out. They built 
him a fire, gathered him some wood, and left 
him, without, as Haler says, turning their 
heads to look at him as they went off. About 
two miles further, Scott — you remember Scott 
— who used to shoot birds for you at the fron- 
tier—gave out. They did the same for him as 
for Hubbard, and continued on. In the after- 
noon, the Indian boys went ahead, and before 



340 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

nightfall met Godey with the relief. Haler 
heard and knew the guns which he fired for 
him at night, and starting early in the morn- 
ing, soon met him. I hear that they all cried 
together like children. Haler turned back 
with Godey, and went with him to where they 
had left Scoft. He was still alive, and was 
saved. Hubbard was dead — still warm. From 
Kern's mess they learned the death of An- 
drews and Rohrer, and a little above, met 
Ferguson, who told them that Beadle had died 
the night before." 

Such is a portion of the brief, but thrilling 
narrative of this extraordinary and disastrous 
journey, as detailed in a familiar letter by 
Col. Fremont to his wife ; but Mr. Carvalho 
gives in detail some of the particulars of the 
horrors which overtook them, all through the 
unfortunate error of engaging as guide, a man 
who either knew nothing, or had forgotten all 
he had ever known, of the localities which tho 
party designed and hoped to reach. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

We quote now from the closing part of Mr. 
Carvalho's narrative: 

" At last we are drawn to the necessity of 
killing our brave horses for food. To-day the 
first sacrifice was made. It was with us all a 
solemn event, rendered far more solemn how- 
ever by the impressive scene which followed. 
Col. Fremont came out to us, and after refer- 
ring to the dreadful necessities to which his 
men had been reduced on a previous expedi- 
tion, of eating each other, he begged us to 
swear that in no extremity of hunger, would 
any of his men lift his hand against, or at- 
tem'{)t to prey upon a comrade ; sooner let him 
die with them than live upon them. They all 
promptly took the oath, and threatened to 
shoot the first one that hinted or proposed 
such a thing. 

*' It was a most impressive scene, to witness 

twenty-two men on a snowy mountain, with 

bare heads, and hands and eyes upraised to 

^ (341) 



342 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

heaven, uttering the solemn vow, ' So help mo 
God!' — and the valley echoed, 'So help me 
God!' I never, until that moment, realized 
the awful situation in which I was placed. I 
remembered the words of the Psalmist, and 
felt perfectly assured of my final safety. They 
wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way ; 
they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and 
thirsty their soul fainteth within them^ and they 
cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he deliv- 
ered them out of their distresses, 

******* 
*' When an animal gave out, he was shot down 
by the Indians, who immediately cut his 
throat, and saved all the blood in our camp 
kettle. This animal was divided into twenty- 
two-parts. Two parts for Col. Fremont and 
bis cook, ten parts for the white camp, and ten 
parts for the Indians. Col. Fremont hitherto 
messed with his officers ; at this time he re- 
quested that they would excuse him, as it.gave 
him pain, and called to mind the horrible 
scenes which had been enacted during his last 
expedition — he could not see his officers obliged 
to partake of such disgusting food. 

" The rule he adopted was that one animal 
should serve for six meals for the whole party. 
If one gave out in the meantime, of course it 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 343 

W/ts an exception ; but otherwise, on no consid- 
eration was an animal to be slaughtered, for 
every one that was killed, placed a man on 
foot, and limited our chances of escape from 
our present situation. If the men chose to eat 
up their six meals all in one day, they would 
have to go without until the time arrived for 
killing another. It frequently happened that 
the white camp was without food from twenty- 
four to thirty-six hours, while Col. Fremont 
and the Delawares always had a meal. The 
latter religiously abstained from encroaching 
on the portion allotted for another meal, while 
many men of our camp, I may say all of them, 
not content with their portion, would, to satisfy 
the cravings of hunger, surreptitiously purloin 
from their pile of meat, at different times, 
sundry pieces, thus depriving themselves of 
each other's allowance. My own sense of right 
was so subdued by the sufferings I endured by 
hunger, and walking almost barefooted through 
the snow, that while going to guard one night, 
I stole a piece of frozen horse liver, ate it raw, 
and thought it, at the time, the most delicious 
morsel I ever tasted. 

"The entrails of the horse were 'well 
shaken' (for. we had no water to wash them 
in) and boiled with snow, producing a highly 



344 LIFE or CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

flavored soup, which the men considered so 
valuable and delicious that they forbade the 
cook to skim the pot for fear any portion of it 
might be lost. The hide was divided into 
equal portions, and with the bones roasted and 
burnt to a crisp. This we munched on the 
road ; but the men not being satisfied with the 
division of the meat by the cook, made him 
turn his back, while another took up each 
share separately, and enquired who should 
have it. When the snows admitted it, we col- 
lected the thick leaves of a species of cactus 
which we also put in the fire to burn ofi^ the 
prickles, and ate. It then resembled in taste 
and nourishment an Irish potato peeling. We 
lived in this way for nearly fifty days, traveling 
from Grand River across the divide to Green 
River, and over the first range of the Wahsach 
Mountains, on foot. Col. Fremont at our head, 
tramping a pathway for his men to follow. He, 
as well as the rest of the party, towards the 
last was entirely barefoot — some of them had 
a piece of raw hide on their feet, which, how- 
ever, becoming hard and stiff by the frost, 
made them more uncomfortable than walking 
without any. 

" Yesterday, Mr. Oliver Fuller, of St. Louis, 
who had been on foot for some weeks, suddenly 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 345 

gave out. Our engineers and myself were with 
him. He found himself unable to proceed — ^ 
the snow was very deep, and his feet were 
badly frozen. He insisted that we should leave 
him, and hasten to camp for relief; not being 
able to render him any assistance by remain- 
ing, we wrapped his blankets around him and 
left him on the trail. In vain we searched for 
material to build him a fire — nothing was 
visible but a wild waste of snow ; we were also 
badly crippled, and we did not arrive in camp 
until ten o'clock at night, at which time it began 
snowing furiously. We told Col. Fremont of 
Mr. Fuller's situation, when he sent a Mexican 
named Frank, with the two best animals and 
cooked horsemeat, to bring Mr. Fuller in. 
There was not a dry eye in the whole camp 
that night — the men sat up anxiously awaiting 
the return of our companions. 

'' At daylight, they being still out. Col Fre- 
mont sent three Delawares mounted, to look 
for them. About ten o'clock one of them re- 
turned with the Mexican and two mules. 
Frank was badly frozen, he had lost the track, 
and bewildered and cold, he sank down hold- 
ing on to the animals, where he was found by 
the Delaware during the afternoon. The two 
Delawares supporting Mr. Fuller were sferJQ 



346 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON". 

approaching. He was found awake, but almost 
dead from the cold and faintness. Col. Fre- 
mont personally rendered him all the assist- 
ance in his power. So did all of us — for he 
was beloved and respected by the whole camp 
for his gentlemanly behavior and his many 
virtues. Col. Fremont remained at this dreary 
place near three days, to allow poor Fuller 
time to recruit — and afterwards assigned to 
him the best mule to carry him, while two of 
the men walked on either side to support him. 
A portion of our scanty food was ai^propriated 
at every meal from each man's portion to make 
Mr. Fuller's larger, as he required sustenance 
more than they did. 

" On the 7th February, almost in sight of 
succor, the Almighty took him to himself: he 
died on horseback — his two companions 
wrapped him in his India rubber blanket and 
laid him across the trail. We arrived next 
day at Parawan. After the men had rested a 
little, we went in company with three or four 
of the inhabitants of Parawan, to bury our 
deceased friend. His remains had not been 
disturbed during our absence." 

In the month of February, and soon after 
Fremont's arrival and departure. Col. Beale 
again solicited Carson to be his guide while he 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 347 

paid a visit to a large village of Indians con- 
gregated on the Arkansas, for the purpose of 
carrying out a stipulation of the treaty with 
Mexico, that the captives the Indians retained 
in the territory ceded to the United States, 
should be returned to Mexico. He found four 
tribes congregated, to the number of two thou- 
sand, for the purpose of meeting their ag-ent, 
an experienced mountaineer, who informed 
Col. Beale that it would be useless to attempt 
to enforce the provisions of the treaty here, 
especially when so many Indians were together, 
and succeeded in persuading him to desist from 
the use of force against them. 

These Indians had been accustomed to deal- 
ing with poorly clad Mexican soldiers, and the 
sight and bearing of Col. Beale and Carson and 
the men under their command, must have in- 
duced a respect for the government they repre- 
sented, so that they did not consider the expe- 
dition as without good result. 

The Camanche Indians could not well have 
been induced to fulfill the provisions of the 
treaty with Mexico, especially as they were not 
a party to it, for in the very many years past, 
it had been their custom to make incursions 
upon the Mexican settlements and parties of 
travelers, and to capture their cattle and take 



348 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

their goods, besides bringing away as many 
children as possible, in order that the girls pro- 
cured in this way should, when grown, marry 
the braves of the tribe ; till now at least a third 
of the blood of the tribe was Mexican. This 
amalgamation had become more extensive in 
this than in any of the other ^N'ew Mexican 
tribes. 

The Apache is smaller in stature and more 
closely built than the Camanche ; less skilled 
in horsemanship, but equally brave, with 
beautiful symmetry of form, and " muscles as 
hard as iron," with an elasticity of movement 
that shows a great amount of physical train- 
ing, and an eye that reveals the treachery of 
their character. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Arriving again in Taos, to carry into effect 
at once, the resolution he had formed of estab- 
lishing for himself a permanent home, he 
joined his old friend Maxwell in the purpose 
of occupying a beautifully romantic mountain 
valley, fifty miles east of Taos, called by the 
Indians Rayedo, which would long since have 
been settled by the Mexicans, only it was very 
much exposed to Indian depredations. 

Through the centre of this valley flows a 
broad mountain stream, and, for the loveliness 
of the scenery, or the fertility of its broad, 
sloping basin, or the mountain supply of tim- 
ber, there can scarcely be found a spot to equal 
it. Carson and Maxwell established a settle- 
ment about mid-way in the valley ; and at the 
present date, have an imposing little village, 
in which the houses of Carson and Maxwell 

are prominent by reason of their greater di- 

(349) 



350 LIFE OF CHKISTOPHER CARSOT^". 

mensions, and indicate to the trader a style 
of plenteous comfort, which, while it might 
offend the pale-faced denizen of our most fash- 
ionable thoroughfares, the traveler, who has 
learned to love nature and health, gazes upon 
with pleasure, and gladly tarries to enjoy the 
patriarchal hospitality, and the sumptuous, 
almost regal luxury of their hunter occupants, 
who ''count their horses and their cattle by 
the hundreds," and whose thousand sheep are 
on the hills ; whose larder is replenished from 
the still countless herds of prairie oxen which 
roam through those magnificent plains, and 
the lesser bands of speed-defying, beauteous 
quadrupeds of the hills, and the fleet climbers 
of the rocks and big-horned mountain cliffs, 
and the flocks that build their eyrie in their 
crags, all of which are occupants of the sheep- 
pasture of these chevaliers of the wilderness, 
and in whose court-yards may be seen speci- 
mens of this game, of which they are not 
ashamed; for a young Carson has lassoed a 
little grizzly, while antelope and young fawn 
feed from his sister's fingers. 

Here too the Indian braves fear not to come 
and call the master of the mansion. Father, — 
" Father Kit," is his long time appellation — 
and they have learned to look on him and his, 



LIFE OF CHEISTOPHER CAESON. 351 

nith all that reverence and fondness with 
which grateful children look upon a worthy 
sire. 

Carson cannot tarry at his pleasant home, 
much more than to care for its necessary super- 
intendence, for his life is the property of the 
public ; and to the quiet settlement of the In- 
dians into the condition which is happiest for 
them, so far as it can be secured in the condi- 
tion of the country and their own habitudes, is 
the work to which he has wisely devoted him- 
self. He has given to the Indians the best 
years of his ever busy life, and gives them 
still, neglectful of immediate personal comfort 
— or rather finding highest satisfaction in 
doing what is fittest he should do, because it is 
the work in which he can accomplish the most 
good. 

In the vicinity of the home of Carson, and 
that of his friend Maxwell, are gathered a 
number of their old comrades — men of the 
mountains, who have survived the multitudi- 
nous and conflicting events which have come 
over the spirit of the Yankee, and the activi- 
ties of the Yankee nation, since the business of 
trapping first became for her hardy sons a lu- 
crative employment ; and here, in the society of 
each other, and the conscious security of pro- 



Sb2 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

tection for each other, in a locality congenial to 
their tastes, with occasional old time occupa- 
tions, and where the rivalries of their predi- 
lections can be still indulged, and quietly main- 
tained, they are ever ready after every test to 
concede to Christopher Carson the palm of 
being Jirst as a hunter, Jirst as an experienced 
traveler and guide through the moun';ain coun- 
try, whether it be by a route he has, or one he 
has never before traveled. 

The stories of his exploits in defence of his 
neighbors and friends, and to recover from the 
Indians property they had stolen, since he left 
the sersdce of the Arm}^ of the United States, 
would of themselves fill a volume, and we 
have space to allude to but a very few. 

A Mrs. White, the wife of a merchant of 
Santa Fe, had been taken captive with her 
child, (which was soon killed before her eyes,) 
by a party of Apaches, who had shot her hus- 
band, and all the men of his company, before 
capturing her. A party of Is'ew Mexicans was 
at once organized to pursue the Indian band, 
and effect Mrs. White's release if possible. 
The guidance of this party was entrusted to 
a neighbor by the name of Watkins Leroux, 
rather than to Carson. They found the Apache 
murderers, and Carson was advancing fore- 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 353 

most to attack them, when he discovered that 
the rest of the party were not following ; con- 
sec^uently he had to retire, and when the com- 
mander ordered the attack to be made, it was 
too late, for the Indians had murdered Mrs. 
White and were preparing to escape by flight. 
Carson tells this story with all the generous 
magnanimity a great soul exercises in speaking 
of a failure on the part of a rival ; admitting 
that, if his advice had been followed, they 
might have saved Mrs. White, but affirming 
that the command " did what seemed to it the 
best, and therefore no one has any right to 
find fault." 

This occurred in the autumn of eighteen 
hundred and forty-nine, directly after the com- 
mencement of the settlement of Rayedo. 

!N'ear the close of the following winter, all 
the animals belonging to the party of ten dra- 
goons which had been stationed there to pro- 
tect the settlement, were run off by the ma- 
rauding Apaches, and the two herders having 
thorn in charge, were wounded. Early the fol- 
lowing morning, Carson and three of the set- 
tlers with the ten dragoons, started in pursuit, 
discovered the Indians — twenty well armed 
warriors — and four of the party being obliged 
to stop, because their animals had given out, 
23 



354 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

the remaining ten rode clown the Indians, 
who might themselves have escaped but for 
their persistance in retaining the stolen horses, 
which were all recaptured except four, while 
five of the warriors were killed, and several 
more wounded. This expedition was planned 
and executed under the direction of Carson, and 
the fact that he was their leader gave every 
man confidence, as they knew that with him an 
engagement implied success or death. 

The next spring Carson went to Fort Laramie 
with a drove of horses and mules, making the 
journey successfully and pleasantly in company 
with Timothy Goodell, another old moun- 
taineer, being the observed of all observers to 
the large numbers of overland emigrants to 
California whom he met at the fort, where 
Goodell left him to go to California. 

Carson found a Mexican to attend him upon 
his return, and taking a circuitous course, he 
managed to avoid the Apaches ; often traveling 
by moon-light, and taking their animals into a 
quiet nook, and climbing a tree for a little 
sleep during the day, they finally reached tho 
Mexican settlements in safety. 

The days of the following summer winged 
their happy flight with great rapidity, while 
Carson was directing and aiding in his farm 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 355 

ing, and, of course, pursuing his favorite em- 
ployment of hunting, ever returning from a 
hunt with his horse laden with deer or ante- 
lope, wild turkey and ducks, or perhaps a halt 
score or more of prairie chickens, to complete 
the list. Only once was his work interrupted 
by the harsher business of chastising offenders 
against justice, and this time the guilty parties 
were two white men. 

A party of desperadoes, so frequently the 
nuisance of a new country, had formed a plot 
to murder and rob two Avealthy citizens, whom 
they had volunteered to accompany to the set- 
tlements in the States, and were already many 
miles on their way, when Carson was informed 
of the nefarious design. In one hour he had 
organized a party, and was on his way in quick 
pursuit, taking a more direct route to intercept 
the party, and endeavoring at the same time to 
avoid the vicinity of the Indians, who Avere 
now especially hostile, but of whose move- 
ments Carson was as well informed as any one 
could be. In two days out from Taos, they 
came upon a camp of United States recruits, 
whose officer volunteered to accompany him with 
twenty men, which offer was accepted, and by 
forced marches they soon overtook the party 
of traders, and at once arrested Fox, the leader 



356 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

of the wretches, and then proceeded to inform 
Messrs. Breve jrt and Weatherhead of the dan- 
ger which they had escaped ; and they, though 
at first astounded by the disclosure, had noticed 
many things to convince them that the plot 
would soon have been put in execution. 

Taking the members of their party whom 
they knew were trusty, they at once ordered 
the rest, thirty-five in number, to leave imme- 
diately, except Fox, who remained in charge 
of Carson, to whom the traders were abundant 
in their thanks for his timely interference in 
their behalf, and who refused every offer of 
recompense. 

Fox was taken to Taos, and imprisoned for 
a number of months ; but as a crime only in 
intent was difficult to be proved, and the adohe 
walls of their houses were not secure enough to 
retain one who cared to release himself, Fox 
was at last liberated, and went to parts un- 
known. 

On the return of Messrs. Brevoort and 
"Weatherhead from St. Louis, they presented 
Carson with a magnificent pair of pistols, upon 
whose silver mounting were inscribed such 
words as would laconically illustrate his noble 
deed, and the appreciation of the donors of the 
great service rendered. 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 357 

The summer following was consumed in an 
excursion for trade, on behalf of himself and 
Maxwell, and a visit to the home of his daugh- 
ter, now married in St. Louis ; and which was 
prosecuted without incident worthy of note, 
until he came to a Cheyenne village on the 
Arkansas, upon his return. This village had 
received an affront from the officer of a party 
of United States troops bound to JVew Mexico, 
who had Avhipped one of their chiefs, some ten 
days before the arftval of Carson ; and to have 
revenge upon some one of the whites, was now 
the passion of the whole tribe. 

The conduct of this officer is only a specimen 
of that which thousands have exercised toward 
the Indians of the different tribes ; and the 
result is the same in all cases. Carson's was 
the first party to pass the Indian village after 
this insult; and so many years had elapsed 
since he was a hunter at Bent's Fort, and so 
much had this nation been stirred by their 
numberless grievances, that Carson's name was 
no longer a talisman of safety to his party, nor 
even of respect to himself, in their then state 
of excitement ; and as Carson went deliberately 
into the war council, which the Indians were 
holding on the discovery of his party, having 
ordered his men to keep their force close to- 



358 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

getlier, the Indians supposing he could not 
understand them, continued to talk freely of 
the manner of capturing the eifects, and killing 
the whole party, and especially himself, whom 
they at once concluded was the leader. When 
Kit had heard all their plans, he coolly ad- 
dressed them in the Cheyenne language, telling 
them who he was, his former association with 
and kindness to their tribe ; and that now, he 
should be glad to render them any assistance 
they might need ; but as Hb their having his 
scalp, he should claim the right of saying a 
word. The Indians departed, and Carson went 
on his way ; but there were hundreds of the 
Cheyennes in sight upon the hills, and though 
they made no attack, Carson knew he was in 
their power, nor had they given up the idea of 
taking his train. His cool deliberation kept 
his men in spirits, and yet, except upon two or 
three of the whole fifteen, he could place no 
reliance in an emergency. At night the men 
and mules were all brought within the circle 
of wagons, grass was cut with their sheath- 
knives, and brought into the mules, and as 
large a guard was placed as possible. When 
all was quiet, Carson called outside the camp 
with him a Mexican boy of the party, and ex- 
plaining to him the danger which threatened 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 359 

them, told him it was in his power to save the 
lives of the company, and giving him instruc- 
tions how to proceed, sent him on alone to 
Rayedo, a journey of nearly three hundred 
miles, to ask an escort of United States troops 
to be sent out to meet him, telling the brave 
young Mexican to " put a good many miles 
between him and the camp before morning;" 
and so he started him, with a few rations of 
provisions, without telling the rest of the party 
that such a step was necessary. This boy had 
long been in Carson's service, and was well 
known to him as faithful and active, so that he 
had no doubts as to the faithful execution of 
the trust confided to him ; and in a wild coun- 
try like 'New Mexico, with the out- door life 
and habits of its people, a journey like the one 
on which he was dispatched, was not an unusual 
occurrence : indeed, in that country, parties on 
foot often accompany those on horse, for days 
together, and do not seem to feel the fatigue. 
Carson now returned to the camp to watch 
all night himself; and at break of day they 
were again upon the road. No Indians ap- 
peared until nearly noon, when five warriors 
came galloping toward them. As they came 
near enough to hear him, Carson ordered them 
to halt, and approaching, told them that the 



360 LIFE OF CHUISTOPHER CAESOT^. 

niglit before, he had sent a messenger to 
Rayeclo, to inform the troops that their tribe 
were anno}ang him ; and if he or his men were 
molested, terrible punishment would be in- 
flicted by those who would surely come to hia 
relief. The Indians replied, that they would 
look for the moccasin tracks, which they pro- 
bably found, and Carson considered this the 
reason that induced the whole village to pass 
away toward the hills after a little time, evi- 
dently seeking a place of safety. The young 
Mexican overtook the party of troops whose 
officer had caused the trouble, to whom he told 
his story, and failing to secure sympathy, he 
continued to Rayedo, and procured thence im- 
mediate assistance. Major Grier dispatched a 
party of troops, under Lieutenant R. Johnston, 
which, making rapid marches, met Carson 
twenty-five miles below Bent's Fort; and, 
though they encountered no Indians, the effect 
of the quick transit of troops from one part of 
the country to another, could not be other than 
good, as a means of impressing the Indians 
with the efi*ective force of the United States 
troops. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Eighteen years had elapsed, full of eventful 
history — especially the last ten — since Carson 
had renounced the business of trapping, and 
of late there had been an almost irrepressible 
longing once more to try his skill at his old 
employment, in company with others who had 
been, with himself, adepts at the business. 
Accordingly he and Maxwell, by a great effort, 
succeeded in collecting sixteen more of their 
old companions, and taking care to provide 
themselves abundantly with all the necessaries 
for such a service, and with such added articles 
of comfort as the pleasurable character of the 
excursion dictated, they started, with Carson at 
the head of the band, " any one of Avhom would 
have periled his life for any other, and having 
voted that the expedition should be one for hard 
work, as when they trapped for gain long ago," 
they dashed on across the plains, till they came 

to th@ South Platte, and upor its well remem- 

(361) 



362 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOIS'. 

bered waters, formed their camp and set their 
traps, having first apprised themselves, by the 
^' signs," that the beaver were abundant. In- 
deed, so long ago had trapping gone into disuse, 
that the hunt proved successful beyond their 
anticipations, and they worked down this 
stream, through the Laramie plains to the 
New Park, on to the Old Park, and upon a 
large number of the streams, their old resorts, 
and returned to Rayedo with a large stock of 
furs, having enlivened the time by the recital 
to each other of many of the numberless enter- 
taining events which had crowded upon their 
lives while they had been separated. 

Would not the reader like to have made 
this excursion with them, and witnessed the 
infinite zest with which these mature and ex- 
perienced men entered again upon what seemed 
now to them the sport of their earlier years ? 
They made it, as much as possible, a season of 
enjoyment. One of the party had lassoed a 
grizzly, but, finding it inconvenient to retain 
him, he had been shot, and bear steaks, again 
enjoyed together, had been a part of the 
Fourth of July treat they afforded their vis- 
itors, the Sioux Indians. As we have but little 
further opportunity, we will quote Fremont's 
description of the Mountain Parks, f >r the 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 363 

6ake of giving the reader an idea of the localit}' 
of this last trapping enterprise of Kit Carson : 

" Our course in the afternoon brought us to 
the main Platte River, here a handsome stream, 
with a uniform breadth of seventy yards, ex- 
cept where widened by frequent islands. It 
was apparently deep, with a moderate current, 
and wooded with groves of large willow. 

" The valley narrowed as we ascended, and 
presently degenerated into a gorge, through 
which the river passed as through a gate. We 
entered it, and found ourselves in the New 
Park — a beautiful circular valley of thirty miles 
diameter, walled in all round with snowy 
mountains, rich with water and with grass, 
fringed with pine on the mountain sides below 
the snow line, and a paradise to all grazing 
animals. The Indian name for it signifies 
^^cow lodge^^^ of which our own may be consid- 
ered a translation ; the enclosure, the grass, the 
water, and the herds of buffalo roaming over 
it, naturally presenting the idea of a park, 
7,720 feet above tide water. 

"It is from this elevated cove^ and from the 
gorges of the surrounding mountains, and some 
lakes within their bosoms, that the Great Platte 
River collects its first waters, and assumes its 



364 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

first form ; and certainly no river has a more 
beautiful origin. 

*' Descending from the pass, we found our- 
selves again on the western waters ; and halted 
to noon on the edge of another mountain val- 
ley, called the Old Park, in which is formed 
Grand River, one of the principal branches 
of the Colorado of California. We were now 
moving with some caution, as, from the trail, 
we found the Arapahoe village had also passed 
this way. As we were coming out of their 
enemy's country, and this was a war ground, 
we were desirous to avoid them. After a long 
afternoon's march, we halted at night on a 
small creek, tributary to a main fork of Grand 
River, which ran through this portion of the 
valley. The appearance of the country in the 
Old Park is interesting, though of a different 
character from the New; instead of being a 
comparative plain, it is more or less broken 
into hills, and surrounded by the high moun- 
tains, timbered on the lower parts with quaking 
asp and pines. 

"We entered the Bayou Salade, (South 
Park,) and immediately below us was a green 
valley, through which ran a stream ; and a 
short distance opposite rose snowy mountains, 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 365 

whose summits were formed into peaks of 
naked rock. 

*' On the folio w^ing day we descended the 
stream by an excellent buffalo trail, along the 
oi)en grassy bottom of the river. On our 
right, the bayou was bordered by a mountainous 
range, crested with rocky and naked peaks ; 
and below it had a beautiful park-like char- 
acter of pretty level prairies, interspersed 
among low spurs, wooded openly with pine 
and quaking asp, contrasting w^ell w^ith the 
denser pines which swept around on the moun- 
tain sides. 

"During the afternoon. Pike's Peak had 
been plainly in view before us. 

" The next day we left the river, w^hich con- 
tinued its course towards Pike's Peak; and 
taking a south-easterly direction, in about ten 
miles we crossed a gentle ridge, and, issuing 
from the South Park, found ourselves involved 
among the broken spurs of the mountains 
which border the great prairie plains. Al- 
though broken and extremely rugged, the 
country was very interesting, being w^ell wa- 
tered by numerous affluents to the Arkansas 
River, and covered with grass and a variety 
of trees." 

Carson had disposed of his furs, and was 



366 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOT^. 

again quietly attending to his ranche, when he 
heard of the exorbitant prices for which sheep 
were selling in California, and determined to 
enter upon a speculation. He had already vis- 
ited the Navajos Indians, and thither he went 
again, and in company with Maxwell and an- 
other mountaineer, purchased several thousand 
sheep ; and with a suitable company of trusty 
men as shepherds, took them to Fort Laramie, 
and thence by the regular emigrant route, past 
Salt Lake to California, and arriving without 
any disaster, disposed of them in one of the 
frontier towns, and then went down to the Sac- 
ramento valley, to witness the change which 
had come over old familiar places ; not that 
the mining did not interest him ; he had seen 
that before in Mexico, but he had not seen the 
cities which had sprung into existence at a 
hundred points, in the foot hills of the Sierras, 
nor had he seen San Francisco, that city of 
wondrous growth, which now contained thirty- 
live thousand inhabitants. 

But for the remembrance of the hills on 
which the city rested, Carson would not have 
known the metropolis of California, as the spot 
where in '48 " the people could be counted in an 
hour." In San Francisco he met so many old 
friends, and so many, who, knowing him from 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOTf. 367 

the history of his deeds, desired to do him 
honor, that the attentions he received, while it 
gratified his ambition, were almost annoying. 

Tired by the anxiety and hard work of 
bringing his property over a long and dan- 
gerous journey to a good market, he had 
looked for rest and retirement; but instead, he 
was everywhere sought out and made conspic- 
uous. 

He found himself surrounded Avith the 
choice spirits of the new El Dorado; his name 
a prestige of strength and position, and his so- 
ciety courted by everybody. The siren voice 
of pleasure failed not to speak in his ear her 
most flattering invitations. Good-fellowship 
took him incessantly by the hand, desiring to 
lead him into the paths of dissipation. But 
the gay vortex, with all its brilliancy, had no 
attractions for him; the wine cup, with its 
sparkling arguments, failed to convince his 
calm earnestness of character, that his simple 
habits of life needed remodeling. To the storm, 
however, he was exposed ; but, like a good ship 
during the gale, he weathered the fierce blast, 
and finally took his departure from the new 
city of a day, with his character untarnished, 
but nevertheless leaving behind him many 
golden opinions. 



368 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

Some newspaper scribbler, last autumn, an- 
nounced the death of Carson, and said, in con- 
nection, " His latest and most remarkable ex- 
yloit on the plains, was enacted in 1853, when 
he conducted a drove of sheep safely to Cali- 
fornia." Probably the writer was one of those 
whose eager curiosity had met a rebuif, in the 
quiet dignity with which Carson received the 
officiousness of the rabble who thronged around 
him on that visit. Not that he aj^preciated 
honor less, but that its unnecessary attach- 
ments were exceedingly displeasing to him. 

In this terribly fast city, where the monte 
table, and its kindred dissipations, advertised 
themselves without a curtain, and where to in- 
dulge was the rule rather than the exception, 
Carson was able to stand fire, for he had been 
before now tried by much greater temptations. 

In the strange commingling of peoj)le from 
all quarters of the globe, whom Carson wit- 
nessed in San Francisco, he saw but a slight 
exaggeration of what he had often witnessed 
in Santa Fe, — and indeed, for the element of 
variety, in many a trapping party, not to name 
the summer rendezvous of the trappers, or the 
exploring parties of Col. Fremont. To be 
sure the Chinamen and the Kanackers were a 
new feature in society. But whether it be in 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 369 

the many nationalities represented, or in the 
pleasures they pursued, except that in San 
Francisco there was a lavishness in the ex- 
penditure of wealth commensurate with its 
speedier accumulation, there was little new to 
him, and while he saw its magic growth with 
glad surprise, the attractions this city offered 
could not allure him. JS'or could the vista it 
opened up of a chance to rise into position in 
the advancing struggles for political ascen- 
dency, induce one wish to locate his home in a 
spot so wanting in the kindly social relation- 
ships ; for he had tried the things and found 
them vanity and vexation of spirit, and now 
he yearned for his mountain home, and the 
sweet pastoral life which it afforded in his cir- 
cle of tried friends. 

He saved the money he had secured by the 
sale of his flocks, and went down overland to 
Los Angelos to meet Maxwell, who took the 
trip by sea, which Carson having tasted once, 
could not be persuaded to try again, and there 
renewing his outfit, and visiting again some of 
its honored citizens, they started homeward, 
and had a pleasant passage till they reached 
the Gila River, where grass became so scarce 
that they were compelled to take a new course 
in order to find food for their horses ; but Car- 

24 



370 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSOIS^. 

son liad no difficulty in pursuing a measura] ly 
direct course, and without encountering a sn )w 
storm, often terribly severe in the mountains 
of this interior country, he reached Taos on 
the third of December 1853. 

He here received the unexpected information 
that he had been appointed Indian agent for 
ISTew Mexico, and immediately wrote and sent 
to Washington the bonds of acceptance of this 
office. And now commences Carson's official 
career, in a capacity for which he was better 
fitted than any other person in the Territory. 

Long had the Indians in his vicinity called 
him " father," but now he had a new claim to 
this title, for he was to be to them the almoner 
of the bounty of the United States Govern- 
ment. There was immediate call for the exer- 
cise of the duties of his office, (for the Indians 
of New Mexico had all buried the tomahawk 
and calumet,) in visiting and attempting to 
quiet a band of Apaches, among whom he 
went alone, for they all knew him, and secured 
from them plenty of promises to do well ; but 
he had scarcely left them, before they were 
tired of the self-imposed restraint, and renew- 
edly continued their depredations, and several 
serious battles were fought with them by the 
United States troops, the first having proved 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 371 

unsuccessful, but never was success wanting 
when the commander of United States dragoons 
had placed his confidence in the advice, and fol- 
lowed the suggestions of Kit Carson, who was 
admitted by them to be the prince of Indian 
fighters — though he never tolerated cruelty or 
the expenditure of life when there was no im- 
perious necessity, but yet regarded severe 
measures better than a dawdling policy. 

There had been serious fights in Noav Mex- 
ico in 1846, while Carson was away with Fre- 
mont; and it was better so, as the Mexicans 
were his blood and kin ; yet, in the change of 
authority, he fully sympathized. But now, the 
enemy was the different tribes of Indians, and 
in the capacity of Agent for them, Carson 
chose to impress them with the power of the 
government for which he acted for their own 
good, that they might be induced to desist from 
their plundering, and be prepared for the in- 
fluences and practices of civilization ; and all 
the victories secured over them were due, as 
history truly records, " To the aid of Kit Car- 
son," " With the advice of Kit Carson ;" and 
never once is his name associated with a defeat ; 
for, if he made a part of an expedition, a con- 
dition must be, that such means should be em- 
ployed as he knew would accomplish the end 



372 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

desired ; for lie did not choose, by one siTi^le 
failure, to give the Indians a chance to think 
their lawlessness could escape its merited retri- 
bution. 

!N'or yet did Carson ever advise that confi- 
dence in the promises of the Indians which 
was not backed by such exhibition of power as 
to command obedience; knowing that with 
these children of the forest, schooled in the 
arts of plunder, and the belief that white men 
and white men's property were an intrusion on 
their hunting grounds, and therefore lawful 
prey — this was and is their law — non-resistance 
would not answer, and only stern command, 
backed by the rifle, ever has secured obedi- 
ence — though they appreciate the kindnesses 
done by those friends who have such reliance. 
But it was Carson's opinion that the country 
cannot be safe while the Indians roam over it 
in this wild way, or until they are located on 
lands devoted to them and theirs for permanent 
homes, and are compelled to settle upon and 
cultiv^ate the soil, when he thinks they will 
come, by careful teaching, to display sentiments 
of responsibility for their own acts. 

There is little doubt that, had Carson been 
appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs for 
the department of xSew Mexico, the reliance 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 373 

Bometimes placed on treaties would have been 
discarded, and measures taken at an enrlier 
date, to locate the Apaches and Camanches and 
Utiihs, which might have been accomplished 
with less expenditure of blood and of treasure ; 
but he quietly pursued his business, relying upon 
the influence which his knowledge and skill had 
given him to induce his superiors in official 
authority to undertake such measures as seemed 
to him the wisest. 

The headquarters of his Indian agency were 
at Taos, and while he spent as much of his time 
as possible at Kayedo, the duties of his office 
compelled the larger part of it at Taos. The 
thousand kindly acts he was able to perform for 
the Indians, by whom he was constantly sur- 
rounded, had secured such regard for himself 
that he needed no protection where he was 
known — and what Indian of New Mexico did 
not know him? He went among them, and 
entertained them as the children of his charge, 
having their unbounded confidence and love. 

Every year, in the hey-day of the season, 
Carson continued the custom of a revival of 
earlier associations, by indulging, for a few days, 
or perhaps weeks, in the chase; and was joined 
in these excursions by a goodly company of his 
old compeers, as well as later acquired friends. 



374 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

and men of reputation and culture, from what- 
ever quarter of the world, visiting the territory; 
and especially by a select few of the braves of 
the Indian tribes under his charge. These were 
seasons of grateful recurrence, and their pleasures 
were long anticipated amid the wearisome duties 
of his office. 

The incidents of his every-day hfe, inter- 
vening his appointment as Indian agent and the 
rebellion, would furnish an abundance of material 
for a romance even stranger than fiction. A life 
so exciting as that among the Indians and brave 
frontiersmen, and a name so renowned as that 
of Christopher Carson, could net but attract 
and concentre wild and romantic occurrences. 
His life during these years is inseparably con- 
nected with the history of the Territory of New 
Mexico, which, could it be given to the public 
in all its copious and interesting details, would 
unquestionably concede to him all the noblest 
characteristics in man. 

The treaties between the United States and 
the Indians, during the term of his appointment, 
w^ere mainly the result of his acquaintance with 
the Indians, his knowledge of their character, 
and his influence over them. Nor did the 
Government fail to recognize his valuable ser- 
vices. During the rebeUion, and while serving 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 375 

principally in New Mexico, where he distin- 
guished himself by his untiring prosecution of 
hostilities witli his savage foes, then at war with 
the Government, he was promoted from rank to 
rank, until he finally reached that of Brevet 
Brigadier-General. 

In a report to the National headquarters, 
dated at Camp FloriUa, near Fort Canb}^, N. M., 
January 26, 1864, we find the following detailed 
account of operations in New Mexico : 

" The culminating point in this expedition has 
been reached at last by the very successful 
operations of our troops at Canon de Chelly. 
Col. Kit Carson left Fort Can by on the sixth 
instant with a command of four hundred men, 
twenty of whom were mounted. He had a 
section of mountain artillery with him, and 
taking the road via Puebla, Colorado, he started 
for Canon de Chelly. He gave orders to Capt. 
Pheiffer with his command of one hundred men 
to enter the canon at the east opening, while he 
himself intended to enter it at the ^ mouth,' or 
west opening, and by this movement he ex- 
pected that both columns would meet in the 
caiion on the second day, as it was suj)poscd to 
be forty miles in length. 

*'Capt. Pheiffer's party proceeded two days 
through the caiion, fighting occasionally ; but al- 



376 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

thougli the Indians frequently fired on them from 
the rocky walls above, the balls were spent long be- 
fore they reached the bottom of the canon, which, 
in many places, exceeded one thousand five 
hundred feet in depth. It was a singular spec- 
tacle to behold. A small detachment of troops 
moving cautiously along the bottom of one of 
the greatest canons on the globe, (the largest is 
in Asia, I believe,) and firing volleys upward at 
hundreds of Navajoes, who looked, on the dizzy 
height above them, like so many pigmies. As 
they advanced the canon widened in places, and 
various spots of cultivated land were passed, 
where wheat, maize, beans, melons, etc., had 
been planted last year; while more than a 
thousand feet above their heads they beheld 
neat-looking stone houses built on the receding 
ledges of rocks, which reminded the beholder of 
the swallows' nests in the house eaves, or on the 
rocky formation overhanging the ^sea-beat caves.' 
Further on, an orchard containing about six hun- 
dred peach-trees was passed, and it was evident 
that the Indians had paid great attention to their 
culture. 

" On the second day a party from Col. Carson's 
column met the Captain in the canon, and re- 
turned with him to Col. Carson's camp. A 
party from the Colonel's command had, in the 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 377 

meantime, attacked a party of Indians, twenty- 
two of whom were killed. This had a dis- 
piriting effect on many others, who sent in three 
of their number under a white flag. Col. Carson 
received them, and assured them that the Gov- 
ernment did not desire to exterminate them, but 
that, on the contrary, the President wished to 
save and civilize them; and to that end Gen. 
Carlton had given him instructions to send all 
the Navajoes who desired peace to the new 
reservation on the Rio Pecos, where they would 
be supplied with food for the present, and be 
furnished with implements, seeds, etc., to culti- 
vate the soil. They departed well-satisfied, and 
Col. Carson immediately ordered Capt. A. B. 
Carey, Thirteenth United States Infantry, with 
a battalion to enter the canon, and make a 
thorough exploration of its various branches, 
and at the same time to be in readiness to 
chastise any body of hostile Navajoes he might 
encounter, and to receive all who were friendly, 
and who wished to emigrate to the new reserva- 
tion. Capt. Carey, during a passage of twenty- 
four hours through a branch of the canon hither- 
to unexplored, made an exact geographical map 
of this terrible chasm, and discovered many side 
canons hitherto unknown. About one hundred 
Indians came in to him and declared that ' the 



378 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

Navajo nation was no more;' that they were, 
tired of fighting and nearly starved, and that 
they wished to be permitted to advise their 
friends and families in the mountains ; many of 
whom were willing to leave the land forever, 
and go to a country where they would bo cared 
for and protected. They said they understood 
agriculture, and were certain they would make 
comfortable homes on the Pecos. This was, of 
course, only the opinion of some; others would 
prefer to remain and culture the soil on which 
they were born, and live at peace with the 
territory. However, the latter were positively 
informed that unless they were willing to 
remove they had better not come in, and, 
moreover, that the troops would destroy every 
blade of corn in the country next summer. 

^' On the 20th of January Col. Carson came 
to Fort Canby, and about six hundred Indians 
had collected there; but when the wagons arrived 
to remove them only one hundred wished to go, 
and the remainder desired to return to their 
villages and caves in the mountains, on pretence 
of bringing in some absent member of their 
families. Col. Carson very nobly and generously 
permitted them to choose for themselves; but 
told them if ever they came in again they should 
be sent to Borgue Redondo, whether willing or 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 379 

not. Col. Carson himself took the Indians to 
Santa Fe, and will remain absent about a month. 
Since his departure many Indians came in and 
agreed to go to the reservation. 

"I think the Colonel foresaw this, as no 
person understands Indian character better than 
he does. Capt. A. B. Carey, Thirteenth In- 
fantry, commanding in his absence, will see that 
all Indians coming in will be removed, and, I 
think, before April next, if the present good 
feeling exists, we shall have accomplished the 
removal of the entire tribe. Capt. A. B. Carey, 
after successfully marching through the canon 
and noting its topography, reached Fort Canby 
on the eighteenth instant, and relieved Capt. 
Francis M'Cabe, First New Mexico Cavalry, 
who commanded in the absence of Col. Kit 
Carson. 

"As the Navajo expedition is now entirely 
successful, it is but justice to the officers and 
men of the First Cavalry of New Mexico, and 
to Col. Christopher Carson and his staff to say 
that they have all acted with zeal and devotion 
for the accomplishment of that great desidera- 
tum — the removal of the Navajoes. Cut off 
from the enjoyments of civilized life, deprived 
of its luxuries, comforts, and even many of its 
necessaries, and restricted to the exploration of 



380 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

a wilderness and the castigation of an army of 
savages, who defied them, and endeavored to 
find a shelter among the cliffs, groves, and 
canons of their country; in pursuing them to 
their haunts they have encountered appalling 
difficulties, namely : want of water, grass, and 
fuel ; often exposed to the merciless fury of the 
elements, and to the bullets and arrows of a 
hidden foe. In the face of these difficulties they 
have discovered new rivers, springs, and moun- 
tains in a region hitherto unexplored, and pene- 
trated by companies into the very strongholds 
of the enemy, who fled farther west as our 
columns advanced, and on various occasions the 
dismounted cavalry have, by rapid and unpar- 
alleled night marches, surprised that enemy, 
capturing his camp and securing his flocks and 
herds, at a time when he imagined himself fai 
beyond our reach, and really when he occupied 
a country never before trodden by the foot of a 
white man. 

" Much of the credit is due to the perseverance 
and courage of Col. Kit Carson, commanding the 
expedition, whose example excited all to great 
energy, and inspired great resolution ; but it may 
not be out of place to remark that it is now de- 
monstrated beyond a doubt that, while the troops 
of New Mexico have long borne the reputation 



LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 381 

of being the best cavalry, they have proved 
themselves in the present campaign to be the 
best infantry in the world. 

" Gen. James H. Carlton, who knows, perhaps, 
and understands the material for an army as 
well as any General in our army, has directed 
the formation of a New-Mexican Brigade, and 
when the savage foe is removed, that Brigade, 
commanded by Brigadier-Gen. Kit Carson, would 
surely reflect credit on the Territory and on the 
Department Commander." 

After the close of the war Christopher Carson 
continued in the employ of the Government, 
rendering such services as only one equally 
skilled and experienced could render, until his 
death. He died at Fort Lyon, Colorado, on the 
23d of May, 1868, from the effects of the rupture 
of an artery, or probably an aneurism of an 
artery, in the neck. But a few weeks previous 
he had visited Washington on a treaty mission, 
in company with a deputation of red men, and 
made a tour of several of the Northern, and 
Eastern cities. 

In his death the country has lost the most 
noted of that intrepid race of mouitaineers, 
trappers, and guides that have ever been the 
pioneers of civilization in its advancement west- 
ward. As an Indian fii^hter he was matchle«> 



382 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CARSON. 

His rifle, when fired at a redskin, never failed 
him, and the number that feJl beneath his aim, 
who can tell ! (The identical rifle which Carson 
used in all his scouts, during the last thirty-five 
years of his life, he bequeathed, just previous to 
his death, to Montezuma Lodge, A. F. and A. 
M., Santa Fe, of which he was a member.) The 
country will always regard him as a perfect 
representative of the American frontiersman, 
and accord to him the most daring valor, con- 
sistent kindliness, perseverant energy and truth- 
fulness which that whole great territory, that 
we must still regard as lying between the civili- 
zatwp«^ is capable of furnishing. 



